Kenan Orhan's Debut Novel 'The Renovation' Blends Magical Realism with Profound Human Themes
Kenan Orhan's remarkable first novel, 'The Renovation,' published by Hamish Hamilton at £16.99 for 256 pages, presents a compelling narrative that begins in Italy. Psychologist Dilara, along with her husband and her father—a former politics professor suffering from Alzheimer's—has emigrated after her father endured a brutal attack in Turkey.
A Portal to the Past and a Glimpse of Home
In a startling twist, Dilara finds that her newly renovated bathroom is not the expected en suite facility but instead serves as a magical portal to a prison cell in Istanbul. This discovery grants her a complicated and tantalising glimpse of the city she still deeply loves, despite having left it behind.
The novel masterfully explores how memory, language, home, and identity are as fragile and susceptible to injury as Dilara's frail, fast-ailing father. Through this lens, Orhan crafts an urgent allegory about the experience of living in exile, while simultaneously delivering a powerful, visceral, and heartbreakingly uncompromising portrait of dementia.
Critical Acclaim and Literary Merit
Critics have praised 'The Renovation' as impressive on every level, noting its ability to weave together personal tragedy with broader political and social commentary. The book is available now from the Mail Bookshop, offering readers a profound and emotionally resonant literary experience.
