Ik ga leven, an autobiographical debut novel by 23-year-old Lale Gül, was first published in Dutch in 2021. On release, it became an immediate bestseller – yet Gül received death threats and ended up ostracised by her family. Now that the book is appearing in translation as I Will Live, Anglophone readers can see why.
Gül’s novel tells the story of 20-year-old Büsra, who’s living what she describes a “schizophrenic” existence as a young Muslim woman in Amsterdam. She was born in the Netherlands, but her family are what she calls “Euroturks”, and visit their relatives each summer in the Turkish village from which her parents hail. At home, Büsra fights these “begetters”, who insist she wear a headscarf and distinguish herself from unbelieving women who’re like “fruit without a peel, lollies without a wrapper”.
Her illiterate mother acts as the enforcer, throwing (for example) a wedge shoe at Büsra’s face for a small perceived transgression. Büsra’s brother, Halil, in contrast, has “all the freedom to manoeuvre he wants”.
