Elif Shafak’s “Tequila Leila” lives a life of adventure — at times one that is treacherous, though one which does offer tenderness. A life built of senses, Elif Shafak guides us through the story of “Tequila Leila”, which entails the journey from a small village, to a brothel, to a morgue, to a graveyard, to a truck, and then to the sea.
The ring composition of the novel, as the final burial of “Tequila Leila” links directly to her earliest memories, demonstrates that, in spite of life’s strangeness and surprises, we are bound by certain fragments of our memory. Although “Tequila Leila” is physically inept during the ten minutes and thirty eight seconds following her death, it is the memories, as opposed to the physicality are what drive this novel, just as it is the fond memories which encourage her friends to engage in the physical transfer of the body, and dictate their actions.
The nominal shift from a name which signifies the main character’s dark eyes, and professes a pious and honourable character, declaring that Leyla would be as pure as water, specifically as pure as spring water, to “Tequila Leila” acts as a microcosm for Tequila Leyla’s journey throughout the novel. The liquids referred to in the names themselves demonstrate the shift in the main character’s character, from a person who has the notion of purity bestowed upon herself, void of individuality, and a current which she resists, to a more unique concoction, which connotes fun and escapism — the principle which Tequila Leila tries desperately to embody; as she strives to leave a sharp after-taste.
It is rather counter-intuitive that the ten minutes and thirty eight seconds proceed as a count-up, as opposed to a count-down. This could perhaps be an allusion as to how the novel ends on the highest point of friendship, as they fulfill their duty to “Tequila Leila”; just as Elif Shafak fulfills her potential as the authoress.