Rachel and Simon speak with award-winning novelist Elif Shafak. The author of 12 novels and 7 works of non-fiction, her work has been translated into 55 languages. "The Forty Rules of Love" (2009) was chosen by the BBC as one of 100 novels that have shaped the world; "10 Minutes 38 Seconds in This Strange World" was shortlisted for the Booker Prize and the RSL Ondaatje Prize in 2019; her latest novel, "The Island of Missing Trees", was shortlisted for the Costa Book Awards in 2021 and chosen for Reese Witherspoon's influential book club in November. We spoke to Elif about writing in both Turkish and English, "The Bastard of Istanbul" and the accusation that she had "insulted Turkishness" and why heavy metal is the perfect music to write to.
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