Good morning 👋
Hope you’re keeping well!
A couple of weeks back, I finished reading The Island of Missing Trees by Elif Shafak, and what a beautiful story it was. We’re going to be taking a look at some of my thoughts surrounding the book in today’s blog.
Hello and Welcome to Sweeney’s Blogs!
If you haven’t heard of this book before, here’s a little summary:
The Island of Missing Trees is a fictional tale, focused on the love story of Kostas (a Greek Cypriot) and Defne (a Turkish Cypriot) on the island of Cyprus during the war in the 1970s. It’s a book about love, loss, family, grief, healing, nature and so much more.
It’s a book that really makes you think – Shafak doesn’t shy away from breaking your heart one moment, then in the next, writing in a way that symbolises the flow of life, and how we are such resilient individuals as people. Each with our own pasts that have shaped us into our presents, with unique aspirations and goals for the future.
One of the parts I really loved about this story was how Shafak used nature as an actual character, with the chapters from the point of view of the Fig Tree (it makes a lot more sense as you read the book, trust me). This narrative shift challenges you to think outside of the typical human view we get in stories such as this, imagining how outside forces, species and natures witness a love story blossom, shift and move forward in life.
The final revelation between Defne and the Fig Tree, wow, it’s so well written. This book makes you feel so much, and I’m sure is going to be one I will remember for a long, long time to come.
If you haven’t read it yet and have made it this far through the blog, I highly recommend heading to check it out. It’s a fantastic read – one that I’d love to hear your thoughts on.
That’s all for today’s blog, what do you think? Have you read any of Elif Shafak’s books before? Would you like to see more book reviews here on the page?
I’d love to hear your thoughts ⤵️
Thanks for reading, and I hope you have a lovely day!
James
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