Against the Storm; Coming Home; The Frozen Waterfall; Watching the Watcher

Hiçyilmaz has drawn on her experiences of living in Turkey and Switzerland for these four novels; Coming Home is new, the others recently re-issued. The setting in each book is closely observed so that the reader is drawn effortlessly into unfamiliar worlds.

For differing reasons the central character in each novel is forced to confront and acknowledge their identity; to find their own place in a bewildering and sometimes hostile world. Ankara is the setting for Against the Storm . Mehmet is forced to leave his village home with his family to start a new life in the city. But the promise of ‘streets paved with gold’ dissolves into a harsher reality. Mehmet must learn to survive in the shanty town and on the unfamiliar streets. But he refuses to allow himself to be sucked into the poverty trap and decides to return alone to his home village.

In The Frozen Waterfall , Hiçyilmaz writes poignantly about 12-year-old Selda’s displacement when she is uprooted from her home in Turkey and taken to live with her father in Switzerland. Thrust into an environment where she cannot understand the language or culture, she must decide which path is best for her; a return to her old life or a new beginning.

The theme is explored further in Coming Home . Elif has been brought up in London but each summer visits her family in Turkey for a long holiday. On an impulse she accepts the invitation to stay there permanently but soon discovers that her new home is not what she imagined.

Watching the Watcher is different in tenor; a gripping thriller. 13-year-old Henry is pleased to visit his uncle, a high profile naturalist, but discovers that the nature reserve hides a dark secret. However, like Mehmet, Elif and Selda, Henry is also struggling to find his place in the world. He feels uncomfortable with his family and his involvement in solving the mystery forces him to confront his emotions.

Hiçyilmaz’ writing is empowering; her main characters are resourceful, independent teenagers who make their own decisions. She is an outstanding and accomplished writer whose style is direct and honest, compassionate but uncompromising.