56 pages 1 hour read

Elif Shafak

10 Minutes 38 Seconds in This Strange World

Fiction | Novel | Adult | Published in 2019

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Part 3-Epilogue

Chapter Summaries & Analyses

Part 3: “The Soul”

Part 3, Chapter 1 Summary: “The Bridge”

Content Warning: This section discusses death and gun violence.

As the five drive to the Bosphorus Bridge, Humeyra, who took several different anxiety medications before the trip, falls asleep. She has a nightmare, and Jameelah sings her a lullaby, calming everyone. They realize two police cars are following them. Zaynab122 gets out of the truck to distract the officers by pretending to be injured. Nostalgia Nalan stops to let Zaynab122 out of the truck and then drives toward the bridge at top speed.

Halfway across the bridge, Nostalgia Nalan stops the car and jumps out. Sabotage Sinan helps her grab Leila’s body. The pair begin to push Leila’s body over the railing when they are stopped by the voices of the two police officers. Another police car pulls up, and Nostalgia Nalan apologizes for getting everyone involved. Despite the police officers’ orders, Sabotage Sinan decides to lurch forward and push Leila’s body off the bridge; he thinks about the hula hoop he gave her when they were children and how much simpler things were back then. One of the police officers shoots Sabotage Sinan in the shoulder, and Leila’s body plummets into the water below.