In The Shivering Street, Cengiz Dağcı captures the devastating German occupation of Crimea during the height of the Second World War. The novel unfolds when Almira, a woman who has fallen on hard times, encounters the timid and bewildered young institute student, Halûk, on the streets. Taking him under her wing, she brings him to an apartment, where the narrative meticulously chronicles the intense and transformative three days he spends there in hiding.

Unlike his other works, Dağcı heavily employs inner monologue and stream of consciousness in this deeply psychological novel. Through the window of a corner apartment—barricaded by harsh winter conditions and hostile occupying forces—readers witness Halûk’s profound internal struggle. As he attempts to make sense of a shattered world, his introspective journey becomes a poignant reflection of a young man trying to forge his identity amidst the suffocating political oppression and the looming threat of exile that constantly burdens the Crimean community.