Kemal, a young man from Istanbul's upper class, falls in love with a poor relative - the very young, naive, and beautiful Füsun. What begins as an affair soon grows into an obsession, yet this does not stop Kemal from continuing his relationship with his fiancée. After the lavish engagement party, his lover disappears. Desperately, Kemal realizes that he loves Füsun above all else. But it is too late. Nobel Prize winner Orhan Pamuk tells the story in his grand love novel of a social class in Turkey that seems very Western in many ways yet still retains traditional traits - a contrast that creates subtle irony.