One of the Guardians top 10 debuts to watch out for in 2026 A dazzlingly original new voice in literary fiction for fans of Ali Smith, Mohsin Hamid and Elif Shafak The Renovation is a heart-breaking portrait of one family caught in the tides of history, grappling with grief, exile, politics and the painful absurdity of love Dilara''s father is disappearing. He has dementia and the disease steals a little more of him each day. Dilara has persuaded him to move in with her, hiring builders to adapt her apartment in preparation, but when the renovation is complete she discovers a big problem. Instead of a new bathroom, the builders have installed a Turkish prison cell. At first she is outraged. There has surely been some mistake. Dilara''s family are exiles - they left Turkey many years ago and have never been back. The last thing she wants is a piece of her estranged homeland appearing uninvited in her new home. But as the weeks pass, her indignation gives way to curiosity. Beyond the cell door, she glimpses Turkish guards going about their work. Through the cell walls, she hears Turkish prisoners murmuring, rustling, crying out in their sleep. And in the strange, impossible air of the cell itself, she smells the sesame scent of freshly baked simit, she tastes the fine dust of the Anatolian steppe on her tongue. Even as she struggles to care for her father, to keep the family finances afloat and stop the wheels coming off her marriage, Dilara is drawn back again and again to the mysterious prison cell, and through it to a city that once belonged to her - to the salt wind off the Marmara, the sky full of gulls and domes and minarets - back to Istanbul.

Autorentext
Kenan Orhan is a writer based in Kansas. His first story collection, I Am My Country, was a finalist for the PEN/Robert W. Bingham Prize in 2024. His first novel, The Renovation, was longlisted for the Booker Prize in 2026. His fiction appears in the Atlantic, Paris Review, Common and elsewhere, and has been anthologized in The O. Henry Prize Stories and The Best American Short Stories.

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LONGLISTED FOR THE BOOKER PRIZE 2026

LONGLISTED FOR THE NATIONAL BOOK AWARDS 2026

Guardian Top 10 Debut Novels of 2026

The Renovation is a playful and poignant portrait of one family caught in the tides of history, grappling with grief, exile, politics and the painful absurdity of love

Dilara is renovating her apartment. She wants a brand-new waterfall shower with massage jets; she wants a marble bench and a double vanity unit. But when the renovation is done, she discovers a problem. Where the bathroom should be, the workmen have instead built a Turkish prison cell.

At first she is outraged. Is this a prank? A mistake? A veiled threat? Dilara's family are exiles - they left Turkey many years ago and have never been back. The last thing she wants is a piece of her homeland appearing uninvited in her new home.

But as the weeks pass, her indignation gives way to curiosity. Beyond the cell door, she glimpses Turkish prison guards going about their work. Through the cell walls, she hears Turkish prisoners pacing, rustling, talking in their sleep. And in the strange, impossible air of the cell itself, she smells the sesame scent of freshly baked simit bread, she tastes the fine dust of the Anatolian steppe on her tongue.

Dilara has no shortage of responsibilities, worries, real problems. She has a dying father, a highly neurotic husband, a dwindling savings account and no job. And yet she finds herself drawn back again and again to the mysterious prison cell, and through it to a city that once belonged to her - to the salt wind off the Marmara, the sky full of gulls and domes and minarets - back to Istanbul.

'A highly inventive debut novel about exile, fear and the ways political trauma follows people across borders' The Times