“Every villager has a unique scar the sea has given them. Some were tiny, ones that disappeared in a couple of weeks. I have seen some of them. The scars on their faces, but some are hidden deep inside. They have never healed. It was hard to tell what had caused them, and everyone here knows there is no cure for those.”
— from The Ashes of The Forest
Starred by Kirkus Reviews
“A marvelously inventive work of fantasy
steeped in folklore and magic.”
Press Kit
The Ashes of The Forest
High Resolution Photos
Photography by Hakan Kutgün
Book Information
- Genre
- Literary fiction
- On sale date
- August 25, 2026
- ISBN
- 978-1-957024-12-7
- Retail price
- $20
- Format
- Trade paperback, 6 x 9
- Pages
- 174
- Publisher
- Korza Books
- Distributed by
- Ingram
Book Description
Azra never imagined what Aegean Sea would bring to the Mossy Village. Born in this peculiar place, where time has stood still and magical black seaweed grows in the shallows and entangles the unwary, Azra watches as the waves deliver mysterious treasures from faraway lands.
When the waters of her home recede and then, at last, vanish, Azra embarks on a quest. She encounters magical feathers, a phantom sailor, and a fabled Pearl Seller as she seeks to confront the famed witch Lilith and bring the waters back. As she tries to restore the sea, she begins to connect with her people’s collective unconscious.
The Ashes of the Forest is a lyrical exploration of loss, remembrance, and the landscapes that shape who we become, weaving together threads of traditional Turkish folklore with allegories for the psychological journey of the self and the destabilizing social effects of climate change. Echoing Orhan Pamuk’s, “When the Bosphorus Dries Up” from The Black Book, Guzide Erturk’s novel follows Azra, a young woman who seeks answers when the sea withdraws from the shores of her enchanted Mossy Village. Reimagining myth through the lens of magical realism, in the haunting vein of Cristina Rivera Garza’s The Taiga Syndrome and Gabriel García Márquez’s “One Hundred Years of Solitude,” Erturk creates a surreal atmosphere that invites readers into the shifting labyrinths of the Mossy Village.
About the Cover
- Miniature Artwork
- Jahongir Ashurov
- Cover Design
- Yasin Çetin
Contact Information
- Author
- guziturk@gmail.com
- Korza Books
- korzabooks@gmail.com
- Social
- @guziderturk
Press Kit Downloads
What Others Are Saying About The Ashes of The Forest
“In a hidden Aegean village where the sea remembers more than the living, a young woman named Azra listens to waves that carry ghosts, stories, and scars. In an idiom that blends lyric with the cadences of folk storytelling and the engagement of ecological writing, The Ashes of the Forest unfolds in a world where fragments of myth, from Simurgh to Lilith, are reshaped by the presence of the ghostly sailor Elmados. As the sea returns what cannot be forgotten, the novel magically binds the reader to an endangered natural world.”
— ERDAĞ GÖKNAR, Translator of Orhan Pamuk’s My Name is Red
“Guzide Erturk’s The Ashes of the Forest is thoroughly enchanting and captivating. What seems at first to be a Turkish fairy tale becomes an adventure torn from the pages of The Arabian Nights, as told by Gabriel Garcia Marquez. Every twist in the story takes you deeper into a magical, watery world you’ll be reluctant to leave.”
— MICHAEL N. MCGREGOR, Author of Pure Life: The Uncommon Life of Robert Lax, The Last Grand Tour, and An Island to Myself: The Place of Solitude in an Active Life
“At once lyrical and imaginative, funny and profound, The Ashes of the Forest is an arresting novel full of ghosts and spirits, magic and wisdom. This debut marks the arrival of a singular, innovative new voice.”
— GABRIEL URZA, Author of The Silver State, The White Death: An Illusion and All That Followed
