Random Things Tours: The Kismet Pension by Melanie Ann Gilbert

A small conservative Turkish village, Ortakoy, is about to be turned into a (symbolic) fighting arena between two mindsets, two personalities, two ways of life. The energetic Fatma, the owner of the only guest house, and the bold entrepreneur Harun, who dreams building there a fancy retreat. 

The Kismet Pension by Melanie Ann Gilbert - before thinking to start reading the book, just take your time to admire this beautiful cover - is a story of struggle between tradition and modernity, past and future, set in an atmospheric Turkish village. 

Out of all the characters, Fatma is my favorite, for her flaws and struggle, to survive as a woman, small business owner and mother - teenagers, anyone? Her challenge faced with Harun´s ambitions do open an interesting line of thought, leading to more than business decisions. The ways in which the author explores the unseen ways of anger and revenge was very interesting both from psychological point of view and as a story direction as well. For me, it provided very interesting observations that I may keep thinking about in the next days.

The cultural and historical ambiance is reproduced with sociological attention, which helps create an authentic world nurturing the fictional story. 

It was hard to part ways with The Kismet Pension but some ideas will stay with me for longer. That´s the effect of good books, isn´t it?

Rating: 4.5 stars

Disclaimer: Book offered as part of the book tour but the opinions are, as usual, my own