In Orhan's Inheritance, the patriarch of what seems to be a successful family making Turkish rugs, dies in an unusual death. As his will is read, Orhan inheritis the business (completely bypassing his father) and the family home is left to a stranger living in the United States. What is this unknown women's connection to Orhan and his family?
Orhan travels to Los Angeles to meet Seda Melkonian, a 90-year old Armenian woman spending her remaining days at an Armenian nursing home. He's determined to uncover why she is inheriting the family home rather than Orhan, his father or his aunt.
Orhan is not the main character of the book. Kemal and Lucine are the main characters of the book. Kemal is a Turkish boy in the days leading up to WWI. The days that while watch the Ottoman Empire come crashing down. Lucine is an Armenian girl living nearby to Kemal. Their fathers work together (Kemal's father is the supplier, Lucine's father is the boss). The Armenians living in Turkey were generally well educated and wealthier than their Turkish neighbors. As young children Kemal and Lucine are friends. But as they get older, it is no longer appropriate for a Turkish boy and an Armenian girl to be friends. In addition to the class differences, the Turkish were Muslim and the Armenians were Christian. Age old story.
Then their worlds fall apart. Lucine's uncle is taken from her home, her father disappears and her family is to be transported to the Syrian deserts. Kemal is conscripted into the army. The novel was very graphic, including disturbing narratives about the horrific things that happened to the refugees and some equally horrible things that Kemal experiences in the army.
Back to Orhan. It's 1990 and he's in his late twenties. He's had his own difficulties in life, living as an outcast in Germany in his early twenties. He's been back in Turkey for years, living in Istanbul, running the family business. He's also unaware of the Turkish/Armenian conflict (to put it gently) that happened not quite a century earlier. Armenian genocide. Not something he seems remotely aware of. He continues to remain unaware as he arrives in Los Angeles, meeting Seda, her niece and the cast of characters at the Armenian nursing home, Ararat. While Seda has been keeping the past a secret all these years, her niece is determined that everyone should remember - all the time.
I'm now thinking it's ironic that I read this around the time of Yom HaShoah, Holocaust Memorial Day. How many times do we as Jews say Never Forget or Never Again? Is it possible to maintain a shoah, a holocaust, as a part of our history without having it be the way we define ourselves?
Ohanesian alternates the story between the early 1900s and 1990. In the 1900s, we have the conflicting stories of Kemal and Seda. They are eventually reunited after the war. That's where we learn the truth about the terms in Kemal's will.
I was well aware of the Armenian genocide prior to reading this book. I'd heard about it decades ago while working with an Armenian woman. I learned even more while working with the daughter of a survivor of the genocide. Ironically, I also learned quite a bit more in the late 90's when my Armenian nextdoor neighbor sold her house to a Turkish family. That was a very interesting turn of events.
The contrasting stories of a Turkish boy and an Armenian girl at the conclusion of the Ottoman Empire and the connection between the two made for interesting reading. However, at times I was confused as to the true relationships among the characters. The motives for some of their actions were confusing as well.
I remembered listening to another book about the Armenian genocide and eventually realized that I'd listened to The Sandcastle Girls by Chris Bohjalian. For some reason, I never entered The Sandcastle Girls on goodreads.com. While the history of that book was as godawful as Orhan's Inheritance, I found it easier to get through the earlier book I read. If you were going to read one of the two books, I think I'd recommend The Sandcastle Girls.
On goodreads, I gave Orhan's Inheritance 3 stars. I reserve the right to change my rating once my community book club discusses it next month!
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