Turkish author Ece Vahapoğlu presented in Sofia her novel The Other. The book has attracted many readers with its insightful exploration of that multifaceted country.

Ece Vahapoğlu has graduated from the American University in Rome and has obtained an MA degree in France. Her road to fame began with the 2001 award of the Junior Chamber for the Most Outstanding Young Person in Turkey. Then she began publishing articles on her website immediately attracting many readers. More from the writer in an interview for Radio Bulgaria:

"I was given the chance to publish a book about foreign language study”, she recalls. “I was only 23 and this attracted the interest of the media. They started inviting me to appear in television broadcasts. Gradually, with my way of speaking, I attracted the attention of news channels that offered me a job and so I started my career as a journalist. I have worked at NTV, CNBC-e, Sky Türk, CINE 5 and ATV. In the beginning I was in charge covering economy and technology. Later, I began to make interviews with politicians, and then suggestions came for columns in various newspapers that I accepted. I continued to do a TV show highlighting various business topics. So it's been 15 years and I started to get bored with the news from economy and politics. My interests have moved to culture and art, travel and healthy living. Based on my personal interest I wrote books on healthy eating and physical exercise.”

Following self-help books, The Other is Ece Vahapoğlu’s first novel.

"I wrote the novel 5 years ago - says the author. “It describes modern Turkey through the images of two young women. One of them comes from a modern family and the other from a conservative one. I explore different aspects of public life and describe situations. I wrote the book to present in a different light my country, often perceived negatively abroad. I was writing with the idea that the novel will be translated into foreign languages. First it was published in Italy and then in Albania and Croatia. I am happy to present The Other in Bulgaria. Next year I am meeting with readers in China and UK. I titled it The Other because people tend to label, classify and stigmatize others by class, background, appearance, football bias, race or religion. This discrimination is unnecessary and it stems from the view that the other is different. So in the novel I have described the family life, sexuality, education, business operations etc., the way all this happens in both classes. For example, I have described how a woman feels when her husband is cheating on her; what a young girl feels while performing a prayer ritual - and I receive plenty of feedback from readers who have recognized themselves in the novel."

Through the extraordinary friendship between the heroines, the novel explores the limits of division in Turkish society, goes between the layers of modern secular and religiously conservative existence. As the curtain rises for the questions of religion, sexuality, prejudice, taboos and repressed feelings in contemporary Turkish society, Edzhe Vahapoglu offers a thrilling novel, causing controversy.

The Other came in the Bulgarian translation of Nahide Deniz, the BNR correspondent in Istanbul. According to the translator, the book is a story about overcoming the fear of difference, about acceptance of others and the challenging dilemmas that confront us today, wherever we are in this world.

English version: Daniela Konstantinova