TE16 Turkish Delight

Buket Uzuner Defne didn’t turn him down; she nodded thanks. She was silent. Thewords wouldn’t come, they just wouldn’t come out. Whatever her father had to say, let him get it out, get the whole thing over and done with... Over and done with? Really, over and done with – or was she secretly happy drinking tea with her father in this room covered in carpets and doilies without saying anything? Defne quickly put the idea out of her mind. What if she understands that she’s happy? What if she starts seeing her father often to make up for lost time and develops a happy relationship with him after all these years of longing? Could that happen? Should it? Can people just let go of past hurt and be happy again? Yes of course. Doesn’t Nine Umay say: ‘Every new day gives you a chance to start again’? Yet loath as she is to admit it, she can’t quite bring herself to do it. She wants her father to feel pain, to feel the pain he caused his daughter. No, Defne Kaman, brought up and educated by Umay Bayülgen with all her ancient Shamanic wisdom, with her diploma dedicated to the skies, the earth, the air, fire and water – she couldn’t possibly wish further suffering on the repentant man now facing her! Of course not... But when it’s about my own childhood and father, it seems stingy with my compassion and arrogant towards all the healing formulas in my mind. Is that what you’re doing Defne? Quite unaware of what she was doing, Defne heaved a deep sigh and turned her gaze from her inner universe to the world beyond. Her spirit needed silence. Just a little. Her eyes fell on the bookcase of four or five hundred chaotically arranged books. One

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