[3] Academic response to her early work was mixed; for example Heidrun Suhr praised the accuracy and "strong impression" left by Scheinhardt's first two novels, but was concerned that they could increase prejudice towards Islamic families and treated Turkish women as stereotypical victims.

[7][9] In 2006, Frauen, die sterben, ohne dass sie gelebt hätten was published in a Turkish language version (with some modifications) as Pusuda Kin.

[5][10] In Sie zerrissen die Nacht (1993) (translating to "They demolished the night") she tells the story of a Kurdish woman and her family who try to find a home in Turkey and then Germany, suffering from violence and persecution in each place.

[6] Die Stadt und das Mädchen ("The city and the girl"), published the same year, is a semi-autobiographical novel about a woman who returns to her homeland Turkey from Germany and is struck by the oppression of Turkish women.

[11] Valerie Weinstein of the University of Nevada notes that it addresses issues such as "gender, power, narrative, economic relations, tourism, and the relationships between Germans and Turks".

[2] Her book Frauen, die sterben, ohne dass sie gelebt hätten was the basis for the film Abschied vom falschen Paradies (1989) directed by Tevfik Başer.