Memed , My Hawk

Yashar Kemal

Published by Pantheon books, softcover

This vital and exciting story of a modern-day Robin Hood is set against the beauty and brutality of Turkish peasant life.

The hero, Ince Memed, is a rebel, brigand, and adventurer. Bom in a small village in the Taurus Mountains, he runs away from his cruel Agha, or lord, hoping to escape the unending hardship of life in the thistle-choked fields. Brought back to his village against his will, he and his mother practically starved as punishment, Memed bides his time until, years later, he flees again, this time with the lovely Hatche, his childhood sweetheart, who has been promised to the nephew of the Agha.

The lovers are pursued, Hatche is imprisoned, and Memed escapes into the mountains where, hardened by his troubles, he becomes a famous bandit, determined that eventually Hatche must be freed and the Agha punished. The most important novel to come out of modern Turkey, this romantic tale rises to truly epic proportions as Memed, the outlaw, the Hawk, becomes the protector of his people.