The Fugitive of Gezi Park

The Fugitive of Gezi Park is a gripping, sometimes comic and more often tragic portrayal of two complex, flawed characters and cities. Without ever mentioning Erdoğan’s name, it offers a finely grained study of how Turkey’s descent into dictatorship has torn through human lives. The TLS

 

A sensitive account of how our lives are shaped, on both individual and societal levels, by accident as much as willpower, and by how we deal with the consequent moments of trauma: fight, flight or, most often, neither. ArtReview

 

Beautifully captures the endless possibilities that the city offers its inhabitants – chance meetings, unlikely romances and an opportunity to rebirth yourself, over and over. nb.

 

In her second novel, Turkish-British writer Deniz Goran explores with humour and poise the difficulties of shaking off guilt. Monocle

 

A bitingly funny satire of the shallow art world, and a reflection on exile, trauma, displacement, desire – and the direction of Erdoğan’s Turkey. SAGA Magazine 

 

Set in the dreamscape of the contemporary art world and combining crisp, affectionate class satire with a cinematic storyline and exquisitely observed characters, The Fugitive of Gezi Park is an intense meditation on love, fealty, trauma, exile, politics, and art. An elegant and incisive novel from an incandescent talent. May-Lan Tan, author of Things to Make and Break

 

A young woman, bearing the aching wound of her country, realises the deep connection between the freedom she seeks for her homeland and that of her own body and soul. Through powerful language Deniz Goran brings together two cities, and two people oscillating on the pendulum between hope and despair, preparing them for a new life. Burhan Sönmez, award-winning author and President of PEN International

 

Fabulous. Mariella Frostrup

Deniz Goran’s first novel The Turkish Diplomat’s Daughter became a bestseller when it was published in Turkey in 2007. The novel was also published in the UK, Italy, Germany, Greece and Taiwan. Deniz Goran is the pseudonym of Selin Tamtekin, a Turkish-British novelist and art writer based in London. The Fugitive of Gezi Park is her second novel.