Three Daughters of Eve (2016) is a novel by Elif Shafak. It follows the story of Nazperi “Peri” Nalbantoğlu, a Turkish woman who navigates questions of faith throughout her childhood in a household with divided views, her friendships as a young woman at Oxford, and her encounter with a professor who teaches a seminar on God. The book explores themes of Navigating Conflict About Belief and Faith, The Harmful Impact of Shame, Trauma, and Passivity, and Power Dynamics in Institutional Spaces. Elif Shafak is a British-Turkish writer whose books have been translated into more than 50 languages and has earned many accolades. Her novel, The Island of Missing Trees (2021), was a finalist for the Costa Award, British Book Awards, RSL Ondaatje Prize, and Women’s Prize for Fiction. 10 Minutes 38 Seconds in this Strange World (2019) was shortlisted for the Booker Prize and RSL Ondaatje Prize, while BBC chose The Forty Rules of Love (2009) among the 100 Novels that Shaped Our World.

This guide is based on the 2016 Penguin Books Kindle edition.

Content Warning: This book contains discussions of substance misuse, suicide, sexual violence, and the loss of a child.

Plot Summary

The story unfolds through two timelines told in alternating chapters: Peri’s past, which spans her childhood and her time as a university student in Oxford, and one evening in her present, where she attends a dinner at a seaside mansion in Istanbul.

In the narrative present, Nazperi “Peri” Nalbantoğlu heads to dinner with her daughter, Deniz, when Peri’s handbag is stolen out of the backseat of her car while she is stuck in traffic. She stops the car and chases after the thief. The thief attacks her and almost sexually assaults her. However, Peri manages to fight back and retrieve most of her belongings. In the process, an old Polaroid photograph of Peri, two friends, and their professor falls out of Peri’s wallet, bringing back memories. As Peri proceeds to dinner with Deniz, she reminisces about her past.

Peri grew up as the youngest child of a secular father, Mensur, and a devout Muslim mother, Selma. Her oldest brother, Umut, took after their father, with more extreme views; when Peri was still a young girl, Umut was arrested and sent to prison for owning a gun and his membership in an illegal Marxist organization. Peri’s other brother, Hakan, took after Selma, with both disapproving of Mensur’s liberal views and indulgence in alcohol. Peri grew up torn between her parents’ warring beliefs. She was naturally closer to her father. She also had unexplained visions all her life where a baby with a purple stain on his face appeared before her at significant moments in her life.

After she graduated at the top of her class, Peri gained admission to Oxford, to Mensur’s pride and joy. At university, Peri met and befriended two Muslim women: Shirin, who was of Iranian origin but lived across Europe and largely in England all her life, and Mona, who was Egyptian American. Shirin was staunchly atheist and disdainful of religion in general, especially the one into which she was born. Mona identified as a Muslim feminist and chose to wear the headscarf. Shirin told both Peri and Mona about a seminar on God taught by Professor Azur, who was somewhat of a celebrity in the academic circles.

Peri returned home for Hakan’s wedding and was disturbed by the events of the wedding night. Hakan stormed out of the bedroom, claiming his bride, Feride, was not a virgin. Feride’s parents insisted on everyone going to the hospital for Feride to get a virginity test. Although the doctor explained how some women are born without a hymen or how it can sometimes rupture without bleeding, the examination traumatized Feride. Peri, in turn, who was not a virgin, seethed at the whole situation and resolved never to marry a man like her brother and to only fall in love with a man for his mind.

Back at Oxford, Peri spontaneously attended a debate on God in which Azur was one of the panelists. Stricken by Azur’s quoting of poetry by Hafez, Peri spoke to her advisor about taking Azur’s seminar. Despite being dissuaded by her adviser, as well as a disgruntled student named Troy who claimed that Azur believed he was God, Peri met with Azur himself. While Azur did not confirm whether he would admit Peri into his class, he noted that she had the curiosity and confusion needed to study God; Peri left the encounter intrigued by Azur.

Peri spent the summer break in Istanbul, during which time the events of 9/11 shook the world. She returned to Oxford to discover that she was admitted into Azur’s seminar for the semester. The class consisted of 11 students hailing from varying backgrounds and beliefs. Mona was one of them. Azur’s course involved exploration, reading, and intense discussions on what God is. During one of the discussions, Azur insulted Peri for demanding justice from God. However, when an upset Peri thought of quitting the class, Azur urged her not to.

Peri slowly grew infatuated with Azur. Her feelings for him were cemented over the Christmas break, when Azur discovered she could not travel home for the holidays and invited her home for an informal dinner he was hosting for other students and teachers like her. There, Peri confided in him about the visions of the baby. Instead of dismissing her, Azur invited her to this room to talk more about it in the coming days.

Once the academic term resumed, Peri moved out into a house with Shirin and Mona at Shirin’s urging. Peri was puzzled by Shirin’s insistence on this, especially since Shirin and Mona didn’t see eye to eye on several things. They had heated and frequent arguments about everything raining, from faith and God to sex. From some comments that Shirin made, Peri eventually presumed that Shirin pushed hard for this living situation at Azur’s urging. Peri was uncomfortable with unwittingly being a part of Azur’s social experiment, and she was further disturbed when Troy revealed to her that Azur and Shirin were having an affair.

A troubled and upset Peri confronted Shirin, who lashed out at her. Later that night, Peri went over what she eventually discovered about the visions of the baby: Peri was born as one of the twins. Her twin brother died when they were four, choking on a plum while Peri, frozen and uncomprehending, watched on. Selma has always blamed Peri for her brother’s death, as she didn’t call out for help. This guilt has manifested as visions of her brother throughout Peri’s life. Exhausted and burdened by the weight of always being stuck in a limbo of faith and belief, Peri attempted to die by suicide later that night. She survived and was hospitalized, where she received psychiatric treatment.

Troy spread rumors that Peri’s suicide attempt was brought about by Azur’s romantic rejection of her, and he filed an official complaint against Azur as well. The matter was brought before the ethics committee. Azur was confident that Peri would testify on behalf of the truth, as nothing romantic ever happened between him and Peri. However, torn between her infatuation for Azur and her loathing of his self-importance and the control he exerted over his students, Peri was ultimately frozen with indecision and didn’t show up for the meeting at all. Azur was disgraced and forced to step away from all teaching and administrative duties. Peri returned to Istanbul, leaving her education incomplete; she eventually married Adnan, a man much older than her, and settled into domestic life, mothering three children.

In the present day, Peri keeps revisiting her past throughout the dinner while the rest of the guests carry on conversations about everything from politics to religion. Spurred on by the memories, Peri steps away to call Shirin for the first time in years. She apologizes for the past, and the friends reconcile. Shirin gives Peri Azur’s number, urging her to call him as well. At the same time, masked and armed strangers ambush the house and hold all the guests and staff hostage at gunpoint. Peri slips unseen into a wardrobe and alerts the police from her hiding place before calling Azur. She apologizes to him for her impassivity, while he acknowledges how his actions, too, contributed to the situation. In a role reversal, Peri gives Azur a seminar on the phone, speaking about forgiveness, love, and knowledge until the battery runs out. Finally, Peri hears sirens approaching the house and steps out of the wardrobe to meet her fate.