The Fugitive of Gezi Park, Deniz Goran
‘Beautifully captures the endless possibilities that the city offers its inhabitants – chance meetings, unlikely romances and an opportunity to rebirth yourself, over and over.’
Ten years ago, the protests at Istanbul’s Gezi Park resulted in the deaths of at least six people. Initially starting as a peaceful demonstration to prevent the demolition of a green space in the Turkish city, it quickly gained momentum and became an anti-government movement lasting weeks. Millions took to the streets as a backlash against the rising autocracy under President Recep Tayyip Erdogan .
Deniz Goran’s new novel, The Fugitive of Gezi Park , subtly reflects on the events and its aftermath through the eyes of Ada, a young woman who’s temping at a London art fair. Physically, she is firmly planted in the midst of this fantastical world of art; mentally, she’s reliving the trauma encountered during her police interrogation after the Gezi Park protests, and anxiously awaiting the result of her trial back in Istanbul.
When Goran published her first novel The Turkish Diplomat’s Daughter in 2007, she fell victim to vicious attacks from the Turkish tabloid, even before it was released in her native language, due to its sexually explicit content and celebration of female sexual freedom.
“There was a lot of negative press. It was bad - my Turkish publisher threw me to the sharks. I felt hurt by my country - but it wasn’t my country really, it was the tabloid press. It affected me a lot. I developed an anxiety disorder as a result.”
But like artist’s do, she used this experience to form part of her next work. In The Fugitive of Gezi Park, Ada suffers from post-traumatic stress disorder following her arrest at the Gezi Park protests in 2013. Ada’s lingering anxiety is always thick in the air; she contemplates her own future and whether London is the place to restart and seek exile away from the growing repression and uncertainty in her own country. Her romance that sparks with a gallery owner provides her with a welcome distraction.
Selin Tamtekin – the person behind the pseudonym Deniz Goran - was once part of London’s contemporary art scene. Her work experience explains how she masterfully employs satire in depicting certain characters. Enter boozy Lucian – the suave, over-ripe art dealer, who has fallen off the wagon since his recent divorce. When he and Ada meet at the art fair, an unlikely romance begins to blossom. We’re left constantly wondering if it will wilt away due to their different, chaotic lives, or if indeed they will compliment each other. Inspired by Roberto Bolaño’s The Savage Detectives’ multi-character narrative, Goran predominantly tells the story through the eyes of both characters, providing an intimate gateway to their pasts, and perceptions of the present.
Goran, herself an adopted Londoner, beautifully captures the endless possibilities that the city offers its inhabitants – chance meetings, unlikely romances and an opportunity to rebirth yourself, over and over. London is where the echoes of history intertwine with the pulse of the present, just like the lives of Lucian and Ada.
With Turkey’s recent re-election of President Erdogan, this novel comes at a time of further polarisation in the country. Further repression and tougher crack downs on dissidence and activism has been no secret in the ten years after Gezi Park. Although The Fugitive of Gezi Park is not overtly political, it is a nod to identity, homeland and trauma. This makes the book sound more serious than it is perhaps; there are plenty of laughs and at its core it is a wonderfully crafted human story.
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