1. Turkey and Germany are central to the novel. Each country’s political and social realities shape Leyla’s life, and at times they also seem to function metaphorically. At the end of the novel, Leyla ties her own emotional experiences to Turkey’s political ones, vowing not to “stage another coup against myself” (248). What do you think Turkey and Germany represent to Leyla? What parts of her identity or experiences does she associate with each?
2. Leyla often worries that she’s assuming the roles of “immigrant” or “cleaner” inauthentically; she’s not, she insists, a “cleaner-cleaner” (30). At the same time, she also doesn’t want to be seen as separate from these identities: encountering a group of Turkish cleaners, she writes, “I didn’t want them to think that I was . . . a European with money who doesn’t see them” (34). How does this tension—between a sense of belonging and of being an imposter—play out in the novel?
3. While reading Elena Ferrante’s My Brilliant Friend, Leyla remarks, “It’s comforting to read novels narrated from the future selves of their characters. Even in the most desperate acts of a story, we know that the narrator will survive in the end and make it far enough to write a novel” (117). The Applicant does the opposite; Leyla records each diary entry for her readers with no idea of what will follow. How does this shape our experience of the book? Did you ever feel anxious about what would happen to Leyla?
4. As the character Leyla starts to turn her diary entries into a book, she admits that she has omitted things that she included in her original diary. This gives the impression of two Applicants; one censored, the other not. Which one are we reading? How does the development of the book within The Applicant change your understanding of Koca’s role as author versus Leyla’s as protagonist?
5. Leyla is addicted to Turkish soap operas and spends much of the novel either watching television or talking about needing to stop watching television. What do you think television offers her? Do you, like Leyla, ever compare your own life to television shows
6. Leyla’s friend Eve is a popular Instagram influencer who advertises a glamorous life in London while actually living with her parents in Poland. How does this sense of illusion and fabrication, especially across countries, compare to Leyla’s experience of Berlin, and the distorted picture of her German life she conveys to her mother and sister back in Turkey?
7. Many entries begin with Leyla recalling a dream she’d had the night before (9, 41, 50, 70, 126, 154, 177, 212, 223, 234). Choose one dream and analyze how it expresses or complicates a broader theme of the book.
8. The Applicant is full of people, from Leyla’s closest friends to strangers met and forgotten at clubs. Everyone is mentioned by name—except for the Swede, one of the people who comes to matter most to Leyla. Why do you think that is? What does it say about her relationship with him?
9. Leyla says of Mona, “I could only stand myself when I was with her” (159). What does their friendship represent to Leyla? How does it change once they start engaging in sex work together? What do you think Leyla sees in Mona—both in their shared life in Berlin, and in Mona’s experiences in the US after disappearing from Leyla’s life?
10. Leyla often talks about there being “multiple Leylas” which she fears she’ll destroy by choosing different paths (20, 212, 231). Do you ever feel like there are multiple versions of yourself competing with one another? If so, how do you know which is “real”?
11. Leyla starts writing her diary in a notebook she finds under the couch in her apartment. “Maybe this is me now: whatever I find on the floor,” she writes. “Whatever I can have. Nothing I want” (7). Many of the subsequent entries begin with lists of “treasures” she finds while cleaning the hostel. Why do you think Leyla keeps track of the things she finds? Is there anywhere else you see the theme of “found things” recurring?
12. Discuss Leyla’s relationship with her mother. How does she view her mother? How does that portrait change over the course of the novel? What is she most afraid of happening to their relationship?
13. Leyla describes herself as being in a kind of love affair with Berlin. Imagine Berlin as a character in the book. How would you describe them? What are the major “milestones” of Leyla’s relationship with them? Is the relationship a healthy one?
14. One of the reasons Leyla struggles to claim the identity of the “immigrant” is because she’s an artist, a pursuit which at times feels self-indulgent compared to more “practical” occupations. Are there certain expectations you think Leyla feels beholden to as an immigrant? According to Leyla, what makes the idea of an immigrant artist politically dangerous or suspect?
15. Leyla reveals two central secrets over the course of the novel, about Mona and about her father. Before she admits to them, did you sense that Leyla was hiding something? Why or why not? How do these secrets, and Leyla’s shame around them, shape the rest of the novel?
16. Leyla struggles to understand her relationship with the Swede, worrying that she’s using him for his money, his citizenship, his stability, or his social status as a white Swede. She even compares him to her mother, who also makes her feel safe but with whom she has nothing in common intellectually. How did you view her relationship with the Swede? Do you think their relationship will last? Why do you think Leyla is drawn to him?
17. The ending of the book is ambiguous; Koca gives no closure for Leyla’s relationship or her immigration status. Instead, Leyla resolves that whatever happens, “I will take my story with me, all of it” (248). What do you think this means to Leyla? What will that look like? Why do you think Koca didn’t make Leyla’s outcome clear?
18. The Applicant begins with a letter addressed “To whom it may concern.” Reread it having finished the novel. How do you view it now? Who do you think it is written for?
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