A fascinating read, this book consists of six tales that touch deeply on topics such as identity, tradition, and belonging.
The author is extremely talented and their writing is of a high literary standard.
Each story is told in the form of a modern myth. As such, there is much of the fantastical, poetical, and metaphorical including in each.
This is no casual collection of fiction but a true work of art.

Thank you to NetGalley, the publisher, and the author for giving me a free digital copy of this book to read in exchange for an honest review.

The introduction explains that the first five stories in this collection are a group, organized around the theme of "valor". Set in the author's home region of south-east Turkey, the tales are mythic; the stories are mostly timeless, the narrative structure is non-linear, viewpoints shift between characters in jump-cut fashion, and the action moves back and forth between the mythic and mundane planes. Most of the stories deal with the conflict between personal desires and the community rituals that shape and direct each member's life - (male) friendships/loves are forced into competition and worse.

But these are modern myths. There is none of the opacity of legends - character's interior lives are the major part of the book, as the heroes agonize over the impossible choices they must make. The writing is urgent and lyrical, with gorgeous descriptions of the natural world.

Highly recommended.

Valor: Stories, was described as a milestone of twentieth-century Turkish literature and wow does it earn that praise. This collection is comprised of six stories that center themes such as tradition/custom, ethnicity, and identity, that are just as relevant now was they were when Mungan wrote them in the late 1970s/early 1980s. As with most collections, some stories will work better for each reader than others. In particular, I adored the opening story "Shahmaran's Legs" and the final two, "Ensar and Jivan" and "The Serpent and the Deer".

These stories draw on myth and legend and in several cases mimic that traditional storytelling. For some of the stories this made it a little hard for me to follow the narrative switches and time jumps; however, Mungan's prose was so beautiful that I had no problem just going along for the ride.

I highly recommend this collection! It was beautiful and heart wrenching and I know that some of it went over my head but I look forward to coming back to this work after learning more about the cultural context.

This is very good, and may be best for the serious lit readers. It doesn't seem like mainstream fiction. The author has serious writing chops, and the stories are not happy or realistic. Recommended.

I really appreciate the free ARC for review!!