Journalist, TV commentator, and author Lilia Hassaine’s gripping dystopian novel Public Lives has been published by Ayrıntı Yayınları! The novel follows the story of a former police commissioner tracking the sudden disappearance of a family, centering on themes such as hidden violence, injustice, and the loss of individual freedoms beneath society’s surface harmony. Public Lives, which earned Hassaine the Renaudot High School Students’ Prize, holds a mirror to contemporary society while questioning the balance between security and privacy in modern life.
Lilia Hassaine’s latest novel, Public Lives, has been brought to readers as part of Ayrıntı Yayınları’s Literature series, translated from French by Özgür Yaygır.
Justice has betrayed us. The justice of judges appointed by those in power, the presumption of innocence, and statutes of limitations—all remnants of past justice—have failed. This justice system, incapable of protecting the most vulnerable, flounders in compromises and attempts at deception. How many crimes have been ignored in this way? How many victims have been sacrificed? Through our tolerance toward aggressors, we have condemned victims to lifelong suffering. However, this era ends here.
Public Lives is a new societal utopia where a community, whose sense of justice has been shattered, demands a safer and more peaceful existence by demolishing walls and replacing them with glass. A new order is at play, where everything is made visible, and everyone can intervene in everything. Crimes such as harassment, rape, incest, and domestic violence are now a thing of the past. All relationships in society are now part of this transparent and intervenable existence.
In this captivating dystopian novel by Lilia Hassaine, as we follow the trail of a family that has vanished as if evaporated, we witness a new dictatorship created by transparency that excludes those who resist it. The author explores contemporary societal reality, navigating the dilemma between the need for security and societal peace, technological progress, and the dark nature of the human spirit. Is it truly our closed doors that create crime?
Public Lives is now available on shelves and online sales platforms!
