I believe that what I'm doing is right. Let people think whatever they want. What if I'd given myself over to the life of a housewife? Hadn't I worked for years and endured countless challenges to secure a place for myself and be independent? And just when I achieved all that, what was I supposed to do? Surrender?
In the aftermath of Turkey's 1980 military coup, Sibel, a lecturer in the Aegean city of Izmir, finds herself caught in a web of intrigues and interrogations. Deemed “objectionable” for supposedly harboring leftist sympathies, Sibel is reassigned to a university on the far-flung Black Sea coast, and she takes up the post, leaving Izmir and her family behind. This bold move will lead her to another, even braver decision… Written by award-winning author Feyza Hepçilingirler, As the Red Carnation Fades tells the story of Sibel's struggle to come to terms with herself as a wife, mother and teacher. The novel seamlessly interweaves stream of consciousness, childhood memories and dark comedy as it depicts the byzantine machinations of martial law and the conflicted internal journey of a woman who finds her strength as she takes the path of resistance and independence.