Şafak, Elif "The Island of Missing Trees"

Şafak, Elif "The Island of Missing Trees" - 2021

I have read several books by Elif Şafak. They all seem to be different but they are all fantastic.

In this one, we learn about Cyprus, about the people on this divided island. As an example we have Greek Kostas and Turkish Defne. They fall in love but - as usual in such cases - their love is forbidden.

But we don't just learn about the people and the circumstances that they have to live in, we also get told by a tree, a fig tree, how trees work, how they grow, how they communicate. They have a lot to tell. Fascinating. This part of the story reminded me a little of Elif Şafak's compatriot and my favourite book by Orhan Pamuk who is one of my favourite authors: My Name is Red. He also lets non-humans tell part of the story.

In any case, this is a fantastic story, very original, beautiful and heartbreaking. In the end we know that the island is not only missing its trees.

From the back cover:

"In 1974 , two teenagers, from opposite sides of a divided Cyprus, meet at a tavern in the city they both call home, Nicosia. The tavern is the only place that Kostas, who is Greek, and Defne, who is Turkish, can meet in secret, hidden beneath the leaves of a fig-tree growing through the roof of the tavern. This tree will witness their hushed, happy meetings, and will be there when the war breaks out and the teenagers vanish.

Decades later in north London, sixteen-year-old Ada has never visited the island where her parents were born. She seeks to untangle years of her family’s silence, but the only connection she has to the land of her ancestors is a fig tree growing in the back garden of their home…"