Joint Review: The Island Of Missing Trees by Elif Shafak

The Island Of Missing Trees
Elif Shafak
Viking
2021, 354p
Personal purchased copy

Blurb {from the publisher/Goodreads.com}: Two teenagers, a Greek Cypriot and a Turkish Cypriot, meet at a taverna on the island they both call home. In the taverna, hidden beneath garlands of garlic, chili peppers and creeping honeysuckle, Kostas and Defne grow in their forbidden love for each other. A fig tree stretches through a cavity in the roof, and this tree bears witness to their hushed, happy meetings and eventually, to their silent, surreptitious departures. The tree is there when war breaks out, when the capital is reduced to ashes and rubble, and when the teenagers vanish. Decades later, Kostas returns. He is a botanist looking for native species, but really, he’s searching for lost love.

Years later, a Ficus carica grows in the back garden of a house in London where Ada Kazantzakis lives. This tree is her only connection to an island she has never visited – her only connection to her family’s troubled history and her complex identity as she seeks to untangle years of secrets to find her place in the world.

A moving, beautifully written and delicately constructed story of love, division, transcendence, history and eco-consciousness, The Island of Missing Trees is Elif Shafak’s best work yet.

Marg from The Intrepid Reader and I have very similar taste in books and every so often we find ourselves reading the same book at a pretty similar time and so sometimes, we do a joint review. We’ve done this multiple times in the past, alternating who starts the review and who finishes. It’s a good way to have a discussion and also, change things up a little. This time the beginning of this review/discussion is over at Marg’s blog here. And this is the second part. So pop over to her blog and check out that before you read on! My thoughts are in italics and Marg’s regular text.

{M}: I loved it! The tree was smart and funny (I laughed out loud at the part where it explained exactly why it couldn’t have been an apple tree in the Garden of Eden) and full of interesting facts. If it was a person, I would have found it a great person to chat to!  

As you mentioned the tree became the omniscient narrator, able to tell us  the story of what was happening both when it was in situ in the tavern but also in the new life in London. The tree was like the consistent character which joined the two parts of the story together, prepared to remember and talk about the past,  whereas Kostas and Defne tried to only look forward, to the point that they wouldn’t talk to their daughter, Ada, about their life in Cyprus.

Why do you think Kostas and Defne wouldn’t talk about the past? And how did this factor into the way that Ada felt about herself?

{B:} Honestly, that’s an excellent question and it’s one I find hard to answer. They both experienced a lot of trauma and Defne had continued to experience it through her work during the time of their lives when they were apart. When she chose to be with Kostas during their “second chance”, she was also disowned by her family. I think those things scar a person and it was obvious Defne had a lot of mental demons and things that plagued her. I think probably Kostas might’ve spoken about the past if he felt like he could but it became a habit over the years, and one that it took him a long time to break when Ada needed to know.

I think their silence on the past had huge implications for Ada personally. She grew up never really knowing her heritage truly, not knowing about her parent’s time in Cyprus, the wars and what they had been through. She’d never visited. There felt like there was a disconnect there and it’s only in these tragic circumstances and Ada’s lashing out when she can’t seem to keep her feelings in anymore, that seems to be the catalyst for the wound to be opened so that it can heal properly. 

I just want to go back to Defne’s work – in Cyprus after she and Kostas are separated Defne works as an archaeologist and is with the CMP – the Committee on Missing Persons. They work on locating remains from the war, through research or sometimes anonymous tips and digging up/retrieving the bodies for identification and presumably, to repatriate them to their families for proper burial and closure. Did you know organisations like this existed prior to reading this book?

{M}: I had no idea! The work that the organisation was doing sounds by turn fascinating, compelling, traumatic, healing, important and necessary. It was also possible to see how this would have impacted the people who did the work, which was evident in Defne. I think it was also important that this was work that was done by people on both sides of the conflict, together. I couldn’t help but think how difficult it must be for the people who do this work when they get the information that helps them identify the final resting place of people they know. Having said that, it would also be heartbreaking to know that people you know have not yet been found. Hard either way I guess! 

I feel like there were so many other elements that we could touch on. There are fascinating glimpses into mythology, history, nature, food and we haven’t even talked about Ada’s aunt who comes into the lives of Ada and Kosta unexpectedly! There’s so much to talk about and so many things to love this about this book. It was my first 5/5 book for the year and I can’t wait to read more from this author!

How about you?

{B}: For me, this is a solid 4.5/5 or 9/10. An excellent story and I cannot wait to try another book from Elif Shafak.

Book #54 of 2022

This is book #12 of my 2022 Historical Fiction Reading Challenge, which is hosted by Marg

It’s also book #4 of my 22 in 2022 Reading Challenge.

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