"Şahin... My father whom I hardly ever saw, my mother's husband whom she hardly ever saw. For years, I wished I could give a simple, quick answer like 'at work,' 'at home,' or 'he went to his hometown' to the question, 'Where is your father?' I couldn't explain to anyone where my father was, or what kind of an unfortunate man he was. To be honest, I often doubted his innocence myself."

"Our respect for fate changes based on repetition. When something bad happens, we accept it as a mishap and swallow it; when it happens a second time, we say misfortunes always come in pairs. When it happens a third time, we comfortably conclude, 'everything happens to you.' And with subsequent repetitions, we finally say they must deserve it all. Even if that person continues to live in complete innocence..."

In this captivating collection of stories, Şermin Yaşar speaks to us from somewhere deep within. She masterfully blends the profound sorrows of her geography with our most relatable, everyday clumsiness in life. Pick Up Bread on Your Way heals our deep-seated hurts with laughable loves, reminding readers with every turning page that true literature is a ladder descending straight into the human soul.