The Island of Missing Trees: A Review

                 

"Love is the bold affirmation of hope. You don't embrace hope when death and destruction are in command. You don't put on your best dress and tuck a flower in your hair when you are surrounded by ruins and shards. You don't lose your heart at a time when hearts are supposed to remain sealed, especially for those who are not of your religion, not of your language, not of your blood. You don't fall in love in Cyprus in the summer of 1974. Not here, not now. And yet there they were, the two of them."

The book begins with Ada, a British national, of Greek and Turkish heritage, having issues at school and home. She is soon greeted by her aunt, with whom she slowly reconnects and starts to learn more about her heritage through her. Within this family lives a fig tree, which is personified by the author, and gives the reader a first person account of all that has happened and is happening with the family. By means of this fig tree, Shafak explores the history of the family which is closely knitted with the history of Cyprus and its partition. 

 It is through the fig tree that we are made aware about the past of Cyprus and what went on, on the island during its partition and after it. The story is divided into three timelines, and believe me when I tell you that you won't get confused within them because of the sheer beauty with which they have been laid out in the storyline.

"War is a terrible thing. All kinds of wars. But civil wars are the worst perhaps, when old neighbours become new enemies"

The reason why I love reading historical fiction is the power it holds to transform a reader to different timelines. It is rare for an author to achieve it, but Shafak has mastered it.

In this book, you will find yourself present in the situation, witnessing it live, as everything unfolds. It will whisk you away to all the three timelines the story unfolds in, 1974, early 2000s and the current year within the blink of an eye.

One thing that the author did not back down from exploring is human emotions. There are so many instances in this book that are so raw and pure, which will make your heart melt. She is unapologetic about discussing the need to talk about turbulent past, sensitive topics and history, which needs to be talked about but is often boxed up. She portrays the need of this very boxing up of sensitive topics and history, via Defne and Kostas, the parents of Ada, who decide not to talk about her heritage with her because it wasn't an easy topic to talk about. 

'The Island of Missing Trees' is an extraordinary story about human connections, the right to love, of family, of nature and its importance and more than anything the importance of discussing history. 

"Because in real life, unlike in history books, stories come to us not in their entirety but in bits and pieces, broken segments and partial echoes, a full sentence here, a fragment there, a clue hidden in between. In life, unlike in books, we have to weave our stories out of threads as fine as the gossamer veins that run through a butterfly's wings." 

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