Aysegül Savas

An unnamed narrator in an anonymous city is a graduate student researching nudity in medieval sculptures for her thesis. She moves into an apartment and her older landlady, an artist married to an art historian, comes to town and moves into her studio upstairs. She assertively befriends the student with gifts, treats and conversation. The writing is restrained and beautiful representing the measured interest and elegant character of the protagonists. But the intensity of the relationship increases lending an air of suspense to a poetic journey through art and distress. I warmed to the book as I read.… (more)

The Anthropologists is a book that readers will love or one that readers will detest. Aysegül Savas' writing style in the novel is very unusual. The story of Asya and Manu is told by Asya in a very perfunctory fashion. There are few descriptive words used other than when talking about the park or, sparingly, a handful of other characters. This is why some readers will find it lacking. To me, it is astounding that the author is able to convey so much emotion without describing the characters' feelings. There is such loneliness, sorrow, and longing throughout the book. Asya and Manu strive to become the adults they feel they should be, while each is far from their different home countries. This is a review that I, too, will write frugally. Aysegül Savas has penned a surprising and stunning story.
Thank you to NetGalley and Bloomsbury Publishing. I voluntarily read and reviewed an advance copy of this book provided by the publisher, Bloomsbury Publishing, via NetGalley. All thoughts and opinions are my own.… (more)

It's short. Its prose is spare and functional. It features almost no particulars: no last names, no place names, a nameless narrator. Oh, no, it's an example of modern European fiction! But that isn't to say that "White on White" is a bad novel, even though I suspect that it won't be many readers' cup of tea. Given the sort of book that it is, it probably won't surprise you to learn that this one is unlikely to get anyone emotionally involved. Still, what it lacks in immediacy it makes up for in structural rigor. Whether you'll enjoy reading "White or White" is a matter of taste, but it is, at the very least, well-executed. It's themes are admirably consistent: careful readers will be able to identify images and metaphors that evoke containment, limits, and empty space throughout the text. That's fitting: the novel's characters lead lives that are productive and comfortable, but whether they're happy or fulfilled is another question entirely. The book's ending, which is both cruel and shocking, asks us to examine to examine that question and will likely leave many readers feeling jarred. Is this an enjoyable or fun book? I don't think most people would call it that. But "White on White" might just be a good book, and for some readers, that's all that really counts.… (more)