Description
In the 1970s, the writer Tayfun Kara is sentenced to death for a crime he did not commit. But through a dug up 85 meter long tunnel, he managed to escape via Istanbul to Germany. His story brings the lieutenant who chases him to change his life and also leave Turkey behind. Decades later, she brings fate together in Cologne ...
In his last big novel told Born Akhanli (1957–2021) of cruel crimes, power and violence against the background of German and Turkish history of the past fifty years. At the same time, “Sankofa” is a narrative of hope and the tired attempt to learn from the horrors of the past so as not to repeat them.
In a world that struggles to think beyond its own national or group perspectives, such books are more important than ever.
Akhanlı's language is precise and forceful. He never loses himself in didactic tones, but rather lets the stories speak for themselves. In doing so, he invites us readers to ask questions that go far beyond the individual story. I am particularly impressed by the ability to seamlessly connect different time levels and geographical locations. Each section of the book gives us a different perspective on the same universal themes, and yet none of the stories feel incomplete.”
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Daniel from Mediennerd.de
Dogan Akhanli creates a broad panorama in “Sankofa”. Geographically, it extends from Anatolia to the Rhineland, chronologically from the Turkish military dictatorship of the 1980s to the beginning of the pandemic in 2020. Historical events appear here and there - the murder of the journalist Hrant Dink as well as the NSU trial.
Martin Oehlen, Frankfurter Rundschau
Doğan tells about real people, about complex characters who become playthings of politics and history, who have to go through terrible things and yet have something in common, a common denominator that unites them despite all their differences: they retain their humanity.”
Gerrit Wustmann, 54books.de
A great article about “Sankofa” was published in the Deutschlandfunk Format Büchermarkt on December 4th, 2024. There the translator Recai Hallac spoke about the book and the author.
You can listen to the conversation here:
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