Book Review: It Always Rains In Estaran

Reviewed by Jaylynn Korrell

When the President of Estaran dies, one hopeful leader sees the potential for a new future while politicians of the past see a window of opportunity.

It Always Rains In Estaran is about the intricacies of power changing hands and how tight you have to grasp it to avoid slipping away.

Author Murat Boyner’s characters are all passionate about what they think their kingdom can become. But as in most politics, the main players have vastly different ideas of how things should be done. The main players in Estaran politics battle it out in this thought-provoking novel that makes you question all that goes into backing a cause and how possible or impossible it can be to gather the right people.

Boyner shines when it comes to creating the political climate in this novel. So much of the book is detailing the unique order of Estaran and how it came to be. With a mix of intense religion and a harsh military, the new kingdom that is taking shape in Estaran is almost a miracle. Modern music is being let in, women are gaining rights that they never imagined they could have, and education is taking a forefront. There is a strict divide between those who are intrigued by this new way of life and those who wish for the old ways to stay dominant.

Under President Mateh, there was a short time where things seemed to be going in a direction of cohesiveness, but as his health begins to deteriorate, so does the foundation that he laid for the kingdom. The instability of it all left me turning each page in trepidation, wondering when the scale would tip in favor of another idea, a new ruler, or a new war. As the title states, the climate does stay a bit gloomy in this environment, but Boyner’s writing makes you continue to hope for something bright on the horizon.

The book tosses us back and forth between the past of Estaran, under the rule of President Mateh Redes in the 1920s, and to the 1930s under the new president Sark. It was President Mateh’s final wish to have Sark succeed him and take on this demanding role, a role that Sark himself never imagined having and didn’t necessarily want. While there are plenty of others who could have fulfilled the role, Mateh put his trust in the new generation, hoping that a younger and more hopeful man could take Estaran where it needed to go. Despite quiet objections from Mateh’s most trusted allies, the role does end up going to Sark.

“You cannot eat the apple and not know what it took to get it to your hands. The red of the apple is the blood spilled for it.”

The protagonist of this novel, Sark, is an idealist. He is willing to do the work, but he doesn’t have the same understanding of what it takes to get Estaran to where it can be as some other characters do.

Fetma is one of those people, a woman who goes against her own brother to support President Mateh. She is a bight light in this book. It’s a big deal for her to hold any authority at all, let alone all that she ends up having. Her fight for the education of children and the rights of women shows how her kind of progressive thinking could benefit such a large portion of a nation. It also gives her a unique perspective hat brings clarity to so many of the tense discussions between the men. After being by Mateh’s side for years, she sees how far Estaran could fall if not managed correctly.

While reading through the passages narrating the past and seeing the current state of their island, I couldn’t help but feel hopeful for Sark and the direction he wanted to take the nation. It Always Rains in Estaran is a book based on hope and trust but is riddled with the betrayals that come naturally in a politically tense climate. Boyner’s novel will keep readers on their toes as Sark navigates his new position and all that comes with it.

Politics reigns supreme in this literary novel, though sometimes the scale weighs too heavily on the political side. Boyner writes these characters with so much depth to them, but we don’t get much of the in-betweens of their tense politics. There’s so much done to help us understand this world defined by previous bad politics, and while I did leave the book with a great understanding of the logistics of Estaran, it lacks on the storytelling side.

Nonetheless, political fiction fans will have a lot to appreciate in this novel of hope and politics.

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