Madonna In A Fur Coat

A shy young man leaves his home in rural Turkey to learn a trade in 1920s Berlin. The city's crowded streets, thriving arts scene, passionate politics and seedy cabarets provide a chance meeting with a woman, which will haunt him for the rest of his life.

A bit of background about the author, Sabahattin Ali (there’s actually an introduction at the beginning of this edition that speaks about the life he led that you shouldn’t skim over).

​At the time of publishing in 1943, this book was largely overshadowed by Sabahattin Ali's more well known pieces of writing that often criticised the Turkish government. Many of his works left him in court or were banned by the government due to his socialist and Marxist ideas.  His work had such impact that he was sadly killed by the Turkish National Security Agency while trying to illegally cross the border into Bulgaria in 1948.

This is said to be one of Ali's most autobiographical works, detailing experiences and feelings he was met with while studying in late 1920s Germany. His daughter has said that she believes Maria was based on a real life acquaintance of  Ali, and I choose to believe this too. A story like this has to have roots in truth.​​​​​​​​

I read some reviews on Ruby Lyn's 'Ironically Literate' Book Club before I bought this as she had read a couple of books I had also read recently. One person said it creeps up on you, and I really agreed with this. It starts small, learning about the main character and the way he moves through life, lacking impact but quickly becomes a devastating story of longing.

It begins with an unnamed narrator who has fallen on hard times in Ankara who eventually ends up with a job as a clerk sharing an office with Raif, who he describes as "the sort of man who causes us to ask ourselves: 'What do they live for?'". Surrounded by people who fail to look beyond the surface, the narrator is curious about Raif's life, why is he fluent in German? What secrets are hidden in his desk drawer? The narrator gets his hands on Raif's notebook while he is on his deathbed and from there we learn his story.

Raif moves to Berlin in his 20s and finds himself without any real purpose, lacking in any connection to any other humans. Until he goes to an exhibition and sees the Madonna in a Fur Coat - a portrait of a woman painted by Maria Puder. He falls desperately in love with Maria once meeting her at the gallery, after sitting and staring at the portrait for days on end and their acquaintance begins there.

**I don't want to get into the habit of just writing the plot of the book I've read instead of actually giving my opinion so I'm going to leave it there.

Something I felt resonated with me:

Set in the 1920s, it's refreshing to read about a relationship that relies on letters and waiting outside each other's doors to meet or going back to the same spot you bumped into each other in the hopes of seeing each other again. Technology has been the death of romance, it has made us feel as if we are entitled to closure and to knowing what happens beyond seeing a certain person for the last time. Whereas this book, however devastating shows the beauty in the things that are left unsaid and what is left unknown. Raif even says he "might have recovered in time to make the effort to find you in someone else" after he hears of Maria's death ten years later. That feeling of 'what if?' when it comes to love, and accepting that "some loves are not meant to be lived; they are meant to be remembered". When a relationship fails to materialise in the way you imagine or hope for, it leaves you with a feeling of bittersweetness. Raif's experience is not unique, it's maybe just the best articulation (at least that I have read) of that feeling of longing for someone and being unable to accept never knowing what could have been.

I'd also like to say that I really appreciated the way Ali wrote the character of Maria, she is enigmatic and bold yet vulnerable. I often find that male authors lack effort when creating a female character, but Ali succeeds here (this really makes me believe that this book is based on Ali's experience).

As a whole I did enjoy this book, it's short and dense, sort of replicating the relationship between Raif and Maria, short-lived yet full and deep. It's simple but provoking, it is almost a cautionary tale, it encourages you not to miss opportunities, to be spontaneous, and to not let places and people pass you by.