The Island of Missing Trees by Elif Shafak (Penguin UK)

Elif Shafak is a superb storyteller. And The Island of Missing Trees is no exception.

Young Ada struggles with her identity in London home, her parents are Cypriots, mother Defne Muslim Turk and father Kostas Christian Greek. After mother's death Ada finds emotionally disconnected from her plant-obsessed father, she feels alone and full of teenage angst. Only when her aunt comes to visit from Cyprus, Ada starts to understand her roots and heritage.

The book is a love story between young adults, divided by religion and nationality in conflicted Cyprus. It's not only about love between Defne and Kostas, but also men, families, plants and animals.  

As is said in the novel: "People on both sides of the island suffered – and people on both sides would hate it if you said that aloud."‘Why?’ "Because the past is a dark, distorted mirror. You look at it, you only see your own pain. There is no room in there for someone else’s pain."

My favourite narrator is a fig tree, full of wisdom and profundity: "Throughout my long life, I have observed, again and again, this psychological pendulum that drives human nature. Every few decades they sway into a zone of optimism and insist on seeing everything through a rosy filter, only to be challenged and shaken by events and catapulted back into their habitual apathy and depression."

Novel deals with deep trauma, far-reaching consequences of the war, politics, immigration melancholia and hate. And above all - love.

Wherever there is war and a painful partition, there will be no winners, human or otherwise.

Renewal and healing take time.

Powerful and moving, so well written, absolutely fabulous novel.

Highly recommended!

5/5