Assessment:
Plot: Rousett's novel tumbles forward much like many romantic dramas—at a breakneck pace and like an emotional rollercoaster. There is an excess of didactic narration during much of the storyline, however, and uncanny coincidences.
Prose: Rousset's prose is awkward and contrived at times, unintentionally causing characters to sound robotic and rusty, especially in their dialogue and thoughts . Spelling, grammatical, and mechanical errors abound, which makes reader engagement difficult.
Originality: Rousset's unique love story can be hard for readers to connect with at points, mainly because of the fantastical nature of many of the main characters and their jetset lifestyles. Readers will, however, appreciate the story being told from the perspectives of the main characters.
Character Development: Unfortunately, many of the characters in The Kurdish Woman are two-dimensional and deflated of vibrant personalities—or, rather, only characterized by their materialistic or lustful appetites. And this will make it hard for readers to engage with their stories.
Date Submitted: August 09, 2017
Luis Velho’s The Kurdish Woman is an amazing tale of love that is found and lost. When John Davenport meets Arya Sintesi, she is already engaged to be married to Homer Barsani, a promising Turkish diplomat. John and Arya manage to spend two nights together in Istanbul and Arya becomes pregnant. She is willing to sacrifice everything to be with John, but her family is able to convince her to marry Homer, who accepts her indiscretions and is willing to consider her unborn child as his own on the condition that she cuts all ties with John. The heartbroken John goes back to the US to continue his military career. Will their paths ever cross again?
The Kurdish Woman by Luis Velho is, above all, a love story between two interesting personalities who are worlds apart. John Davenport is the son of the military attaché of the US Embassy in Turkey and belongs to a family with a proud military history. Arya, on the other hand, is the beautiful daughter of a Turkish politician. Educated in Europe and sophisticated, she is engaged to a Turkish diplomat and is expected to marry her fiancé and become an obedient wife. Things do not work as they should, however, when the couple falls in love with each other at first sight.
This is not all there is to this incredible story, however, because John and Arya lead extraordinary lives. The Kurdish Woman is also a story of betrayal, espionage, dedication, loyalty, friendship, cultural differences, family tradition and much, much more. Luis Velho weaves a story that reminds me of other great and tragic love stories like Romeo and Juliet and Mark Anthony and Cleopatra. What makes it doubly amazing is that it is a 21st century love story that could well be happening right at this very moment!
