Time had not faded my memories (as I had prayed to God it might), nor had it healed my wounds as it is said always to do. I began each day with the hope that the next day would be better, my recollections a little less pointed, but I would awake to the same pain, as if a black lamp were burning eternally inside me, radiating darkness.

The knowledge that she could learn to love a man had always meant more to her than loving him effortlessly, more even than falling in love, and that was why she now felt that she was on the threshold of a new life, a happiness bound to endure for a very long time.

East and West are coming together. Whether in peace or anarchy - they are coming together. There needn't be a clash between East and West, between Islam and Europe.

Age had not made him less handsome, as is so often the case; it had simply made him less visible.

We're not stupid! We're just poor! And we have a right to insist on this distinction

What is the thing you want most from me? What can I do to make you love me?' Be yourself,' said Ipek.

A writer in someone who spends years patiently trying to discover the second being inside him, and the world that makes him who he is.