Days of Moonlight

Days of Moonlight takes place in Turkey between 1924 and 2010, and spans the lives of three generations who move as refugees from Crete to Izmir and finally to Toronto. The novel centres on the life and loves of Mehtap, a woman in her mid-twenties with a delicious sense of humour. While working as a secretary at a zipper factory in Izmir, she falls madly in love with her boss for whom she has to lie and wrap presents for his mistress and his wife. Her love for him doesn’t change when she also falls in love with her friend, Nuray. After Nuray moves in to share Mehtap’s house, their friendship turns into a secret and tumultuous love affair and Mehtap is torn between her deep infatuation with her boss and her love for Nuray. Hurt, Nuray has an affair with Mehtap’s boss, then disappears from Mehtap’s life for several years until they meet again by accident, and renew their friendship and love affair. Nuray has married in the meantime, and when her husband decides they must move to Canada for the sake of their daughter, both women find the separation unbearable. The story consists of three books penned by Mehtap: an autobiography, the story of her Cretan background, and a collection of love letters; the narrative — spanning decades and continents — weaves from one to the other throughout the book, uncovering untold tragedies, family secrets and forbidden loves.