Today we are living in a very materialistic world. In one way I tried to touch these subjects in this book.  

When I look around at our society,  many women suffer from breast or uterine cancer. The numbers we hear cannot be neglected.  In general, a woman has to fight for a long time period in order to overcome such a sudden situation she is in. Besides the medical aid, she needs moral support, from the people that surround her.  This can be her husband, her family members,  or some close friends in general.  The more support and understanding she receives, this makes her life easy. Unfortunately, we do not see this behavior in every house.

In my life, I have encountered this case.  At the end, we succeeded to overcome the disease and the situation we were in.  Although in the old days medical technologies and possibilities were not like what we have today, we had a long way with various ups and downs along this fight.  Finally, after long long fights of all kinds, she overcame the situation she was in. 

This made me think a lot.  In my vicinity, I have seen similar cases and each time I think about the case which  I have been,  

In the end unfortunately some lost the war. 

I said this case has to be written somewhere as an example,  an example that certain people can change their behaviors for the sake of their loved ones. 

Now on the book itself…

Today many peoples meet each other through the Internet.  We develop friendships, we exchange ideas, we learn from others’ life experiences…  Some of us meet each other, even we hear some people begin a new common life together.

A man meet a woman on the Internet also…  who was very special in her way of thinking,  culture,  life experience,  and the way she looked, in a different way, to life while she was having breast cancer.  This reminded him a lot and brought him back, many many years, of what he have seen in his life. He decided not to live her alone, in her day-by-day struggles.  And all this was in one condition “to talk all the way the truth, not to hide behind the words”. 

She agreed on this. 

They developed a friendship, based on our human values, and put some personal lines between them, not to cross them. In principle to be good friends, only and only friends. 

As far as he understood, she was fighting alone with her breast cancer which was the kind he have experienced before.  He knew pretty well what was going to be each and every stage of this disease, and what were going to confront in the near future. 

In one way she was alone in this fight. 

In general, people must have some kind of personal support but unfortunately, she did not had it. 

We see many cases like that day by day. Husbands, boyfriends, and others, whoever were they, prefer the easy life and leave the woman alone in her struggle.  In order to give shoulders to her, they prefer their easy life and leave her alone.  

He has seen and heard many cases like that in his life.

The message wanted to send out through this book was;        

to support the woman in her difficult times.  To support first mentally, like a human being, without expecting anything to get out of it.  This was the main topic of this book.

Now the question what does “The Fig Leaf”   in this book?

Why he was helping unconditionally such a woman, without expecting anything back from her?  

Helping without any love affair..!   personal entertainment..!,  or to be only and only human being..!

This was not an easy thing to be understood by many many people surrounding him.  The clear and sincere explanations he gave them  sometimes were a “waste of time and effort”.  

Some people interpret this clean and pure friendship as a kind of “love affair”.  This is why “The Fig Leaves” were for them to cover their shame.  

To teach them something that they have never understood the meaning of “real friendship” and the support needed by a woman, who suffers from cancer.  

“The Fig Leaves” are also for the people who left behind the sick woman and disappear …

I do believe that there is a lot to learn from this book. All these were worked out in my book.

Whatever and wherever we are,   we must be kind, merciful, and clever enough to help each other in our difficult times.  

In this book, the case was cancer,  but it can be anything we confront in life…  

Sometimes a few good words,  humanitarian behavior,  a helping hand, and a shoulder is needed…if it is not provided by some people who are so-called real friends  “The Fig Leaves” are also for these people…where they must be ashamed of themselves. 

Let’s not forget; when we married we promısed one thing                                  “for good and bad times we are together” 

So these are one of the main issues in this book… 

Who is the target audience of the book?

The fact that some woman  do not receive enough support from the people around them, especially in various cancer cases which are common in women today. Sometimes they continue their fight for life alone with the lack of attention from both family members and friends… How,  yes how is this support to be? …. What it should be?… is expressed in simple language. A story of friendship emphasizing what kind of support people with cancer need and how  it should be done without hesitation… UNFORTUNATELY, WE HEAR,  There are many people who do not provide the necessary support in our society. This is the main goal of the book.

A brief summary on the book…

A friendship that started on the internet between a woman with cancer from Istanbul high society and an Anatolian man. It is the story of two people who set out with a personal agreement, a promise, between them, where the truth, only and only the truth will be spoken and be transparent to each other. A man who lost his wife with the same type of cancer by chance. A woman from the high society of Istanbul gets to know each other, and the man gives her unconditional support. He pays attention to the fact that no relationship other than friendship develops between them… Aslo estimating that the life of a cancer patient woman, might end in 4 years…All based on his past experience, and the story of his past… A man who gives the woman the necessary moral and medical support,  is not understood by the people around him.

The simple, humble, noble woman,  responds to this friendship with personal values, which are not seen much nowadays, and continues her relentless war of life with the person she calls “my peasant” as a joke, but with admiration, until her last breath…

After her death, “The Fig Leaf” he presented to the people around him to cover up their shame, ignorance, and unnecessary behavior…

What distinguishes this book from others?

There are many books written on cancer treatment, and they generally give enough information on medical issues, both to the patient and to those around her. Also there are some books describing the importance of psychological support, and unconditional shouldering that the patient needs. Unfortunately, the support needed by cancer patients is not sufficient in some families with problems and even in a way the personal relations are destroyed. Yes, unfortunately… And this is becoming a subject… We do not see much today, in which personal values ​​are protected, without expecting any benefit, within the framework of friendship. When sincere friends and even family members are sometimes impatient with the patient, it causes the patient to live in darker and sometimes with more and more hopeless moments. The importance of these are emphasized in this book.            A “male-female relationship” that shows how much moral support is needed and how important ıt ıs in addition to medical treatments…Presenting a friendship, which is within a lonely friendship frame… May be all these can be a lesson to the reader…

Why should this book be published?

In our society today, unfortunately, we hear that family members steadfastly, without thinking, leave their homes and prefer a life that is easier for them in difficult times. Weak characters, inconsiderate people’s failure… İnorder to support their life partners when the time comes, and we see even some strange behaviors,  we do experience these sad pictures… We hear that there is such an egotistical behaviors… Maybe this book will trigger some people who have such behaviors, family members, childhood friends , and coworkers, at least in a positive way. “The Fig Leaf” is a book that expresses, from a different perspective, how important it is to be with each other, in the difficult moments of our lives…

In general, we see and hear, that some male-female relationships turn into situations such as personal interests, love adventures, satisfaction of sexual needs, social appearance, etc. There are also sometimes friendships,  as mentioned in this book between people who are mature, have life experience, and know what spiritual values ​​are…

Just think, a man fell in love in his youth, to a woman who got married and gave him children, and eventually got cancer and struggled for her life, and fight for it. 

How he behaved and how he should behave was tried shown in this book…

Years after her death, Why, How, Why, the slogan “Some People Never Die” was created even after many years of her death… In this book, the woman’s siblings express how sacred the friendship between these two people is…

The book “The Fig Leaf”, tried to explain in clear language the moral support that should be given to a woman, without expecting anything in return, and always keeping personal values ​​in the foreground…