“The critical point was when a person stopped asking ‘How do I look?’ and started asking ‘How do I see?’” realizes Leyla, the nearly 80-year-old protagonist of Zülfü Livaneli’s satisfying novel of fortitude and transformation. Kicked out of her Istanbul mansion, Leyla shelters in the city’s bohemian Cihangir neighborhood with a gentle 20-something man and his musician girlfriend. Digressions, historical bits, and perspective shifts add to the appealing brew. - Erin Douglass