> Skip to content
  • Published: 25 July 2023
  • ISBN: 9781635423662
  • Imprint: Other Press
  • Format: Paperback
  • Pages: 208
  • RRP: $32.99

The Fisherman and His Son

A Novel





In this humane, affecting tale of a Turkish couple who lose their child and find another, the internationally bestselling author of Disquiet explores the ethical questions surrounding immigration.

In this humane, affecting tale of a Turkish couple who lose their child and find another, the internationally bestselling author of Disquiet explores the ethical questions surrounding immigration.

Fisherman Mustafa and his wife, Mesude, are devastated with grief for their son Deniz, who was lost at sea at seven years old. One day, Mustafa discovers the bodies of a woman and man in the water, likely refugees from Syria, Pakistan, or Afghanistan drowned as they attempted to reach Greece. Nearby, he also finds a baby boy, tied to a small inflatable boat and miraculously alive. Mustafa and Mesude at first welcome the child as a precious gift, a second Deniz, but when a woman appears, claiming to be his mother, they must make a painful decision.
    Through their heart-wrenching story, Zülfü Livaneli sensitively evokes the struggles of migrants seeking a safer life in unknown, often hostile lands. In the process, he elucidates the history and culture of the Aegean, and the ecological destruction wreaked by corporations in the region.

  • Published: 25 July 2023
  • ISBN: 9781635423662
  • Imprint: Other Press
  • Format: Paperback
  • Pages: 208
  • RRP: $32.99

Also by ZULFU LIVANELI

See all

Praise for The Fisherman and His Son

Praise for Disquiet

“Entirely captivating.” New York Times Book Review

“[An] arresting novel.” The New Yorker

“A tale of identities colliding from a writer who’s held five passports…[Disquiet] unfolds in a border town caught between its ancient past and tumultuous present.” —NPR, All Things Considered

penguin pop image
penguin pop image