The Flea Palace by Elif Shafak

The setting for this new novel by Turkish author Elif Shafak is a luxurious building originally built as a palace by a Russian immigrant for his wife at the end of the Czarist era. It contains many apartments that have turned into ruins infested with fleas. The story centers around ten characters with diverse personalities living there with their families.

Written in the style of "One Thousand and One Nights," the novel features a story within a story, dealing with the waste from the building from various perspectives, including a narrator, a womanizer, an academic, and a singer with many secrets of the building's residents.

The narrative shifts between comedy and tragedy, driven by a sense of social justice, securing a high place in the literary world with numerous Turkish and international awards.