Sinan is the main protagonist of the book. Sinan is a Kurdish grocery store owner who lives in the Turkish suburb of Gölcük. He is father to two children, a teenage girl named Irem and a nine-year-old boy named Ismail. His marriage to Nilufer was arranged by their parents and the narrator comments that their relationship is more like siblings than spouses. Sinan is very traditional and runs his household with very strict principles.
