My Grandmother: A Memoir [Hardcover]

Fethiye Cetin (Author), Maureen Freely (Translator)

Book Description

Publication Date: April 17, 2008

An urgent, passionate memoir of the author’s discovery of her Muslim grandmother’s true Armenian Christian identity.

When Fethiye Cetin was growing up in the small Turkish town of Maden, she knew her grandmother as a happy and universally respected Muslim housewife. It would be decades before her grandmother told her the truth: that she was by birth a Christian and an Armenian, that her name was not Seher but Heranush, that most of the men in her village had been slaughtered in 1915, that she, along with most of the women and children, had been sent on a death march. She had been saved (and torn from her mother’s arms) by the Turkish gendarme captain who went on to adopt her. But she knew she still had family in America. Could Fethiye help her find her lost relations before she died? There are an estimated two million Turks whose grandparents could tell them similar stories. But in a country that maintains the Armenian genocide never happened, such talk can be dangerous. In her heartwrenching memoir, Fethiye Cetin breaks the silence.

Editorial Reviews

From School Library Journal

Adult/High School—Cetin recounts the 1915 Armenian genocide, when the Turks sent thousands of Armenian people to their deaths. After they rounded up the men, they slit their throats, and marched the women and children until most of them died. Literally snatched out of her mother's arms, Christian-born Heranus was rescued from death by a Muslim gendarme who brought her up as the Muslim girl Seher. Treated as a servant by his wife, Seher eventually married the son, and unsuccessfully searched for her family. The Turks euphemistically called the Armenians "converts," or those who have impure blood. Those who survived the marches were called "the leftovers of the sword." Cetin was an adult when she learned of these horrors and of her grandmother's original family; and her grandmother implored her to help find them, which Cetin set out to do. It is not always clear who is narrating, and Cetin often tells readers something through one individual and then again through another. In spite of these slight problems, My Grandmother is a fascinating account of a story that needs to be heard by teens. It well deserves to be used in world history class, or as a biography for genre assignments in English classes.—Ellen Bell, Amador Valley High School, Pleasanton, CA
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Review

“A compelling and beautifully written account of family stories and secrets, and a heartfelt call to peace and harmony.” (Elif Shafak )

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 116 pages
• Publisher: Verso (April 17, 2008)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1844671690
• ISBN-13: 978-1844671694
• Product Dimensions: 8.3 x 5.8 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 9.6 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (7 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #714,779 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #71 in Books > History > Asia > Armenia

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

28 of 31 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars touching personal account fills important gap, July 13, 2008

By 

George Aghjayan - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: My Grandmother: A Memoir (Hardcover)

Fethiye Chetin's moving account of her grandmother is a must read. It fills an important gap in the narrative of the Armenian Genocide, the story of Armenian children forcibly taken from their families during the genocide. It is a story of continued discrimination not only for the children, but also their own children later. Throughout the text, one also senses the psychological control over Armenians that continued well after the genocide.

For me personally, Fethiye's account was particularly moving as my own grandmother spent 6 years as a captive to a Turkish family that had abducted her, also in the region of Palu. If not for my grandmother's rescue by her sole surviving family member, this story and life could have been mine.

It is my hope that Fethiye's courage in writing this book will lead to many more about the thousands of "lost and forgotten" Armenians. As we see, the effects of genocide last well beyond the initial heinous crimes.

19 of 21 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Amazing story..., June 23, 2008

By 

Charlotte Bronte "Winter Cherry" (Jungle) - See all my reviews

This review is from: My Grandmother: A Memoir (Hardcover)

One of the best books I've read. It's a sad, touching story of one woman's life and journey...I've cried and I've smiled while reading this wonderful book. I am Armenian myself and this story touched me in many-many ways...
Thank you!

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Extremely Moving, June 27, 2009

By 

Porky "P.W." (New Jersey, USA) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: My Grandmother: A Memoir (Hardcover)

This book is an extremely well-written account about family. It is such a privilege that the author shared her story with us.