Heranuş was born to parents Hovannes and Isguhi Gadaryan, and was taken from her mother's arms during a death march in the course of the Armenian genocide.
[1] The memoir follows Heranuş through the eyes of her granddaughter, from memories of Çetin's childhood, to the horrendous events of the Armenian genocide her grandmother revealed to her as an adult.
Çetin discovered that all the men of Heranuş' village had been slaughtered in 1915, and the women and children were forced into exile, walking for many miles with Turkish soldiers more than willing to pick off any stragglers.
This moving testimony transcend politics and brings the Armenian tragedy to life with tenderness as well as sadness.” My Grandmother, translated into English by Maureen Freely,[2] has become demanded reading piece at some progressive Turkish institutes of higher education, such as Sabancı University.
[3] In September 2010, Fethiye Çetin visited Australia as an invited guest to a public discussion in a Sydney bookstore, about her memoir My Grandmother.