 The novel won the Varlık Prize for that year (Turkey's highest literary prize), and earned Kemal a national reputation.In 1961, the book was translated into English by Edouard Roditi, thus gaining Kemal his first exposure to English-speaking readers.Memed, a young boy from a village in Anatolia, is abused and beaten by the villainous local landowner, Abdi Agha.