This slim book, gracefully written and elegantly translated by Maureen Freely, bears a heavy history.
Cetin, a human-rights lawyer in Turkey, grew up believing grandmother Seher to be a Muslim Turk like her other relatives.
Much later she discovered the truth about an Armenian girl called Heranus, plucked from the massacres and death-marches of 1915 by a gendarme and brought up in his family.
Millions of Turks have such ancestors. Their stories, with this as a luminous example, now help the historic push for reconciliation.
Subscribe to Independent Premium to bookmark this article
Want to bookmark your favourite articles and stories to read or reference later? Start your Independent Premium subscription today.
Join our commenting forum
Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies