I've now read a few novels by Elif Shafak, and I enjoy listening to her opinions on various podcasts, but I simply could not get into this novel. Mum leant it to me, and I asked her how she felt about it and she had a similar response. I'm not entirely sure what it was about the novel, but I think that it probably had something to do with not really believing or empathising with any of the characters.
As is usual for a Shafak novel, the story jumps around with multiple characters, multiple time lines and dipping in and out of reality and myth and legend. I haven't minded this before, but this time it grated... The story mainly considers 'the gaze', i.e. how we look at the world and other people, how humans find other humans and difference intriguing, how in a crowded room we will spot the person with a disability, who is overweight or who has the brightly dyed hair. It is tricky to say who this story is about, but two recurring characters are a overweight woman and her boyfriend who is a dwarf (who is also writing a dictionary of gazes - possibly the most interesting part of the novel). This couple are particularly aware of other peoples' gazes and never appear in public together unless they are in disguise. It just didn't ring true...
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