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Ekin Oklap is perhaps best known for her award-nominated translations, particularly of Nobel laureate Orhan Pamuk. But her debut novel, First Summer, showcases her own remarkable talent as a writer. It follows a teenage girl as she forms an intense bond with the enigmatic new girl who moves in across the street. During one hazy, languid summer, they spend their time together reading, lying in the yard, and trusting each other with their inner selves. Interspersed with brief asides detailing the adventures of a sci‑fi heroine central to their childhoods, the novel deftly captures a fragile moment in youth when fantasy and reality overlap, and how a first love can leave an enduring mark. As the narrator reflects toward the end of the novel, it is “a story of how I discovered friendship and love for the first time, then lost them both again.”
English (US)