Uniquely narrated by a fig tree, The Island of Missing Trees switches between two timelines to tell a story of love, heartbreak and a nation torn apart.
In the 1960s and 70s the Mediterranean island nation of Cyprus was fought over and eventually divided by its Greek and the Turkish citizens. Unfortunately, love does not recognize political boundaries and so starts the story of Defne and Kostas. The fig tree was witness to everything that happened in Cyprus and when Kostas takes a cutting to grow in his garden in England, the story continues with Defne and Kostas’s daughter, Ada.
Elif Shafak’s lush prose captures the allure of young love, the heartbreak of war and its aftermath, the uncertainty and confusion of immigration and the need for people to connect to their cultural heritage.