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The Red-Haired Woman
by Orhan Pamuk
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In the mid-1980s, teenager Cem works outside Istanbul as apprentice to Master Mahmut, a traditional well-digger who becomes a substitute for the father who abandoned him. In the nearby town, Cem is fascinated by a red-haired actress in a travelling theatre. An accident at the well convinces him that he may have killed Mahmut, and he flees without discovering what happened.
Decades later, Cem is a successful businessman, but the buried incident continues to shape his marriage and his understanding of authority. The stories of Oedipus and of Rostam and Sohrab frame his return to the town and his encounter with a younger man connected to the past. The novel links patricide and filicide to political obedience, individual freedom and the stories through which fathers and sons interpret one another.
Historical periods
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