The Island of Missing Trees

The thing about books like The Island of Missing Trees is that they never slip from memory. They are always fresh and clear. The plot, the characters, and sometimes even certain lines. The Island of Missing Trees is so much and only Shafak could’ve skillfully managed to string it all together, without any thread going to waste. The Island of Missing Trees is a love story – not just of two people, but also of a fig tree, of a teenager and her family, of love that we have for our homelands from which we are forced to flee, or have to in order to lead better lives, and more than anything else, it is a love story of people and nature. Two teenagers fall in love in Cyprus – one Turkish, the other Greek. They meet at a taverna which is home to them. Kostas and Defne meet in secret, away from people’s prying eyes, in a tavern with a fig tree at its center. The fig tree watching all, observing their love, and jotting memories as time goes by. A war breaks out. The lovers are separated only to meet decades later, and what happens after that is one of the plot points of the book I don’t want to reveal. The book travels between the past and the present, giving the readers the perspective of the fig tree, of Kostas and Defne’s daughter Ada, and more importantly of what happens to countries when borders are most sought after. Shafak’s writing is emotional, it is gut-wrenching in so many places – when she speaks of home, of what it is to be driven away, to see neighbours turning on you – it makes you think of the countries currently in conflict and it is all about this – land for them, home for the people who live there. The layers to this novel are plenty. On one hand, Shafak tackles mental health and its navigation, on the other – the country at war not only with outsiders, but with itself when it comes to love, of ties that are thicker than blood, and ultimately on the idea of what is home and what makes it familiar. I hope this novel makes it to the shortlist of the Women’s Prize for Fiction 2022.

Extraordinarily brilliant levels of storytelling narrated with depth and emotional intelligence, a relevant and compelling piece in today’s divided world. Highlights the intergenerational relations between conflict, forced migration and the constant grief that encapsulates those who witness it. Especially loved the talking Fig Tree, whose perspective in the backdrop of a Greek-Turkish conflict offered a unique insight on climate change; how humans look down upon other beings who are superior to us in multitudes. The book also offers a gentle insight into the cruel truth of the world - humans destroy while nature protects. That environmental damage inflicted by humans destroy not just species in isolation but also their unique connections. While they protect each other like a collective whole, we continue to remain divided and destructive.

'Çanim' is a word I first came across in 2010. A friend would text me, "çanim". If absolutely nothing else, I will be grateful to Elif Shafak for bringing back this word into my life, and my active memory. Çanim is also how I would describe this book Island of Missing Trees for myself. Based across two time periods in Cyprus and London, this book aptly transports the reader to the end of the Middle East, and Mediterranean. Shafak's gobsmacking amount of research and attention to detail in keeping this fictional tale as true to real events has my whole, entire heart. This is the writing, with heart and intention, that I aspire towards. Reading of a colonial authority imposing war in today's time seemed eerily real with unending parallels, and if anything it made me see the loss of both humanity and ecology just as much. Shafak's deep sense of spirituality and universal connectedness, something I have loved and admired even in Forty Rules of Love, takes centre stage in this story, at least for me. Where fibres of beings are attached to fabrics of time along the threads of fate. So seemingly she blends in Sufism with Gibran that my heart was bursting with a connectedness I cannot explain. The island of missing trees is a story of a culture of people, often being sidelined and clubbed into a minority. Always at the behest of colonial powers forcing them to leave their homes. In Shafak's beautiful book, she tells us yet another story of forced migration but this is mostly a story of love - secretive, romantic, platonic, conditional, unconditional, ecological, spiritual, sacrificial.

Beautiful

Wonderful

A must read for all

Didn't complete reading.... The flow of the book is not as i expected

रस निष्पत्ति - , शृंगार🥰 (in readers) भाव निर्मिति - उदासीनता😔, भय 😨( in characters) What do you notice when you look at a tree - design of leaves - girth of trunk - depth of roots - different hues - barrenness of branches Well I always look at the canopy first. How huge it is, what all can it envelope. Just like the huge support system that family and friends can provide I remember so many advices about relocating to First world countries for better opportunities. In those difficult times to leave was so easy but to stay so difficult. Yet I chose to stay 'coz when you leave, a part of you stays back. How could I have been whole again We all have to leave home someday though, to build houses. Hoping that these houses will become home again by placing the bricks of ambitions & cementing it with memories "that is what migrations and relocations do to us: when you leave your home for unknown shores, you don’t simply carry on as before; a part of you dies inside so that another part can start all over again" The heart of the story lies in devastation caused by colonialism, forcing people to migrate thus losing what was theirs Love of Greek Kostas & Turkish Defne was unacceptable in the divided Cyprus. Yet they fight & win a life together 'coz all love stories deserve Happily Everafters. But process to reach there breaks something inside you. The fight to seek what is yours, takes away something that changes you to what you are not Just like a tree which when replanted in another country, might grow but its fruits might not taste the same This story is about a fig tree (which doesn't belong to any race, colour, but belongs to all) & Ada (Kostas & Dephne's daughter), both who are seeking life in new shores Authors writing is enigmatically creative. Much like taking an unpaid vacation to Cyprus - exploring its terrain & cuisine. This book will make you fall in love with its writing & your surroundings The unique features of this book are - narrator Fig tree - detailed Mediterranean cuisine - enigmatic superstitious rituals