Missing Rose (9781101603864)

PRAISE FOR

The Missing Rose

“If you like books such as
The Alchemist
or
The Little Prince
you will love
The Missing Rose
.”

—
Time Out UK

“[Ozkan's] book is a modern fable, profound and wise—similar to the masterpiece
The Little Prince
by Antoine de Saint-Exupéry.”

—Deutsche Presse-Agentur, Germany

“What this novel does is so magnificent. One could say that this book has the power to unite us.”

—TVA Television, Canada

“His name is already being mentioned together with Paulo Coelho, Richard Bach and even Saint-Exupéry . . .”

—
Corriere della Sera,
Italy

“Turks'
Little Prince
charms the whole world.”

—
Helsinki Sanomat
, Finland

“A major global success. Compulsory reading for all who are thrilled by
The Alchemist
,
The Little Prince
and
Jonathan Livingston Seagull
.”

—
Air Beletrina,
Slovenia

“
The Missing Rose
is a bridge between East and West.”

—
Vijesti
, Serbia

JEREMY P. TARCHER/PENGUIN

Published by the Penguin Group

Penguin Group (USA) Inc., 375 Hudson Street, New York, New York 10014, USA
•
Penguin Group (Canada), 90 Eglinton Avenue East, Suite 700, Toronto, Ontario M4P 2Y3, Canada (a division of Pearson Penguin Canada Inc.)
•
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•
Penguin Ireland, 25 St Stephen's Green, Dublin 2, Ireland (a division of Penguin Books Ltd)
•
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•
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•
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•
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•
Penguin China, B7 Jiaming Center, 27 East Third Ring Road North, Chaoyang District, Beijing 100020, China

Penguin Books Ltd, Registered Offices: 80 Strand, London WC2R 0RL, England

First published in Turkish by Dogan Kitap in 2003 as
Kayip Gul

First published in English by Ebury Press in 2012 as
The Missing Rose

First Tarcher/Penguin edition published in 2012

Copyright © 2003 by Serdar Ozkan

Translation © 2012 by Angela Roome

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced, scanned, or distributed in any printed or electronic form without permission. Please do not participate in or encourage piracy of copyrighted materials in violation of the author's rights. Purchase only authorized editions.

Published simultaneously in Canada

Most Tarcher/Penguin books are available at special quantity discounts for bulk purchase for sales promotions, premiums, fund-raising, and educational needs. Special books or book excerpts also can be created to fit specific needs. For details, write Penguin Group (USA) Inc. Special Markets, 375 Hudson Street, New York, NY 10014.

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Özkan, Serdar, date.

[Kayip gül. English]

The missing rose / Serdar Özkan ; translated by Angela Roome.—1st Tarcher/Penguin ed.

p. cm.

ISBN 978-1-101-60386-4

1. Self-realization in women–Fiction. 2. Twins–Psychology–Fiction. I. Roome, Angela. II. Title.

PL248.O95K3913 2012 2012039699

894'.3534–dc23

This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are the product of the author's imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, businesses, companies, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.

SPECIAL THANKS

If anyone thinks dreams don't come true or miracles don't happen, the storyteller I'd like to acknowledge here is responsible for proving them wrong. First, his book
Veronika Decides to Die
made me quit my job to pursue my dream of being a writer.

Then
The Alchemist
made me believe in the crazy idea that “when you want something, all the universe conspires in helping you to achieve it.”

Now here is my book
The Missing Rose
, a debut novel translated into forty-four languages, read by readers in more than one hundred countries worldwide. And the whole universe has conspired such that the source of that initial spark, Paulo Coelho, too, has read and loved
The Missing Rose
.

Having witnessed the unimaginable journey of
The Missing Rose
all around the world, I must confirm. Indeed, when you want something, all the universe conspires in helping you to achieve it.

Thank you, Paulo—unknowingly, you have lit up the fire of my dream.

—Serdar Ozkan

 

For Ursula

without whom
The Missing Rose

would never have been found
 . . .

O Rose, thou art sick!

The invisible worm

That flies in the night,

In the howling storm,

 

Has found out thy bed

Of crimson joy:

And his dark secret love

Does thy life destroy.

WILLIAM BLAKE

Thou shouldst enter a garden

Thou shouldst journey through it

Thou shouldst smell a fresh rose

A rose that never fades . . .

YUNUS EMRE

CONTENTS

Praise for
The Missing Rose

Title Page

Copyright

Special Thanks

Dedication

Epigraph

 

Prologue

 

Part One

Chapter 1

Chapter 2

Chapter 3

Chapter 4

Chapter 5

Chapter 6

Chapter 7

Chapter 8

Chapter 9

Chapter 10

Chapter 11

Chapter 12

Chapter 13

Chapter 14

Chapter 15

Chapter 16

Chapter 17

Chapter 18

Chapter 19

Chapter 20

Chapter 21

 

Part Two

Chapter 22

Chapter 23

Chapter 24

Chapter 25

Chapter 26

Chapter 27

Chapter 28

Chapter 29

Chapter 30

Chapter 31

Chapter 32

Chapter 33

Chapter 34

Chapter 35

Chapter 36

Chapter 37

Chapter 38

Chapter 39

Chapter 40

Chapter 41

Chapter 42

Chapter 43

 

Part Three

Chapter 44

Chapter 45

Chapter 46

Chapter 47

Chapter 48

 

Epilogue

 

About the Author

Prologue

Ephesus! City of duality. Home to both the Temple of Artemis and the holy House of Mother Mary. The city that embodies both the ego and the soul. The epitome of vanity and humility; the personification of enslavement and yet of freedom. Ephesus! The city in which opposites intertwine. The city that is as human as every living soul.

O
NE
O
CTOBER EVENING,
two people were sitting on the banks of the river Meles near that city—the ancient city of Ephesus. The sun was about to hide itself behind Mount Bulbul, dyed crimson by its rays. Those who understood the language of the skies had brought them the glad tidings of the approaching rain.

“Saint Paul is preaching to the people about Mother Mary,” the young woman said. “Can you hear the crowd yelling, protesting and cursing him in anger? Thousands are rebelling against the new religion, which forbids them to worship their own goddess. Listen to them stamping their feet and shouting, ‘We don't want Mary! We worship Artemis!'”

“Artemis?” the young man asked. “The goddess who the Romans call Diana?”

“Yes, but don't worry about her,” the young woman said. “She's nothing but an illusion, shaped and worshipped by others.”

“You seem to know a lot about her.”

“I know her like I know myself.”

“Well then, why don't you tell me about her?”

“She is the goddess of the hunt,” she began. “A true huntress who uses her arrow to offer a sudden, sweet death to her enemy. Free-spirited yet enslaved; dependent yet proud. Supported by an olive tree, her mother Leto gave birth to her and to, to . . .”

After taking a deep breath, she added, “And to her twin . . .”