18 Apr Meet the name-drop novelists
Asli Perker: The new Joanne Harris
Not only is Perker’s latest bestseller her first to be released in English – the Turkish author translated it herself. “I don’t know how or why I came up with the idea, but I now translate all my novels into English. It’s such a long process, but it really helps me get the feeling right,” says the 38-year-old.
Set across Paris, New York and Istanbul, Soufflé follows three people who all cook from the same cookbook while rebuilding their lives, drawing comparisons to classics like Joanne Harris’s Chocolat.
“I used to write recipes for a Turkish newspaper, making up the names of dishes and never giving proper measurements, just a pinch of this and a pinch of that,” says Perker. “Food is at the centre of my family life. The biggest fight between my mother and my aunt is how to cook an artichoke.”
Soufflé is the third book by Perker – who also works as a journalist and divides her time between Turkey and the US. “I would never complain about my success, but it is often difficult for an author to find time to read!” she says.
