Will I love The Island of Missing Trees?

Fascinating, emotional story about two cultures -- Cypriot and British -- and the individuals who were catapulted across the world and had such intense experiences. Shadowing the story of the fig tree, this story was a beautiful read that remained with me long after I'd finished the book. Elif Shafak is a masterful storyteller.

My current can’t-put-this-down read, The Island of Missing Trees is set between present-day London and Cyprus in the 1970s during the break-out of the civil war on the island.

It’s a family drama told in third person but interspersed between chapters following the lives of Ada and her star-crossed parents, a Greek man and a Turkish woman, there are whole sections of this book told from the perspective of a fig tree.

I particularly enjoy all of these sections because I never thought I might find myself one day sympathising/empathising with a tree and yet somehow, Shafak is really able… show more.

The setting of the book is unfamiliar in more ways than one. The story, which has its origins in Cyprus, is of a Cypriot Greek and a Cypriot Turk couple, their British-born daughter, and a Ficus carica tree. 

I’ve always had a deep love for the Ficus tree – be it a bo tree or a banyan or a fig. My dream garden did not have glamorous roses or palms but an old Ficus with its roots hanging and birds and bees in its hair. Even in my book, the Tree Angel is a banyan. 

The author, with her… show more.