Book Review: Three Daughters of Eve

By Elif Shafak 

4 Stars

The novel opens with Nazperi Nalbantoglu (“Peri” for short) and her daughter on their way to a dinner party where they encounter thieves. While Peri fends them off, the thieves attempt to steal a relic from Peri’s past. This sets her off, and she attempts to retrieve that item, with success. After arriving at the party, the daunting reminder of the past that Peri tried so hard to move on from is thrust into her face. Her daughter demands answers regarding that relic and what significance it served to her. Peri must consider revealing the past she tried so hard to leave behind to her daughter while also moving forward from it herself. The novel takes place over the night of the dinner party. The chapters are a three-way mix of the present events at the party, Peri’s time before the life-changing event and Peri’s childhood. Three Daughters of Eve is a story about revisiting your past, embracing the resulting pros and cons and understanding where/how to make amends. The protagonist, Peri, was a girl on the path to doing big things when she experiences an event that burns her dreams to the ground. Peri runs away, burying those ashes as deep and as far away as she could. The thievery attempt of the relic from Peri’s past is what pushed her to want to make amends. That one relic of the past caused her to want to salvage what she could of whatever was left. 

The way that decades of events were condensed into one evening is what I found to be my favourite element in the book. I personally enjoyed this book due to that because the author leaves the reader curious about what is going on in every decade of Peri’s life. 

Reviewed by Imama 

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