‘Orhan’s Inheritance’ chosen for One City, One Book event
“Orhan’s Inheritance”— the tale of a Turkish man’s quest to understand why his grandfather willed the family estate to a mysterious Armenian woman 75 years after the Armenian Genocide — has been selected as this year’s One City, One Book title.
The annual communitywide book discussion will take place at the La Cañada Flintridge Library Nov. 6 at 3 p.m. and will feature a discussion by author Aline Ohanesian, who was inspired to write the fictional novel by her grandmother’s own experience with the 1915 Genocide.
Participants will also have a chance to interact with Ohanesian in a Q&A discussion moderated by former BBC World News anchor and filmmaker Carla Garapedian, whose 2006 documentary short film “Screamers” chronicles the effort by rock band System of a Down to have the U.S. and British lawmakers officially recognize Turkey’s 1915 Armenian Genocide, still denied today by the Turkish government.
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Kathee Kenna, a member of the La Cañada Flintridge One City, One Book Committee, said the group considered several works of fiction and nonfiction in the process of finding one that would be a good fit for the annual event, now in its 13th year. “Orhan’s Inheritance” rose to the top.
“This was a very strong year,” Kenna said, explaining the group’s choices. “We felt this was a really good book for our community because it’s about the Armenian Genocide, (which) obviously for our community is still current.”
The novel tells the story of Orhan Turkoglu, who inherits the family’s rug business in 1990 after the death of his grandfather and later learns of another heir, an Armenian woman now living in a Los Angeles nursing home.
In his quest to find the woman and learn of her connection to his grandfather, formed at a time when the Ottoman government ordered the execution of 1.5 million ethnic Armenians, Orhan learns truths that stand to threaten the foundation on which his family has been built.
One City, One Book Committee member Julia Hastings said she hoped “Orhan’s Inheritance” would attract audiences from La Cañada and beyond to participate in an intelligent discussion that draws on important historic and geopolitical topics still relevant today.
“The whole motivation behind this is to encourage people to read good books, and we want to get as many people as we can in the city of La Cañada Flintridge to be on the same page, literally, so we can have a broad discussion on an important piece of literature,” she added.
La Cañada Flintridge Library Manager Mark Totten — who’s read every One City, One Book selection since coming to the branch in 2010 — said the event is something people look forward to each year, because they know they’re going to get a truly unique experience.
“Each author brings a little something different to the table,” he said. “(And) it’s a different crowd every time. I guess it just depends on who’s interested, the author and the book.”
FYI
La Cañada’s annual “One City, One Book” citywide book discussion will be held at the La Cañada Flintridge Library, 4545 Oakwood Ave., at 3 p.m. For more information on the event, call the library at (818) 790-3330 or visit facebook.com/LCFonecityonebook.
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Sara Cardine, sara.cardine@latimes.com
Twitter: @SaraCardine
