Context
I have never been an avid reader (I listen to books on Audible) so when I say that a book is a ‘must read’ you should take my advice (#justsaying).
This book is a wonderfully refreshing story told from several perspectives leaving its readers with a deep sense of sorrow, empathy and love for all its characters.
Setting
The book follows multiple generations of family members including young Ada who was born and raised in the UK, her father, Kostas who is a Cypriot who settled in the UK and her eccentric, estranged aunt who lives in Cypress and travels to the UK to attempt forming a bond with her niece. The story oscillates between modern day Britain and the Cypriot war of the 1970’s between the Turks and the Greeks which shatters the lives of the then young Kostas and Defne.
Narrators
My favourite aspect of this book is that one of the narrators is a fig tree, and quite a sassy one at that! The beauty of the story is that it dives into the tainted past of the immigrants who moved to the UK in search of a life unbroken by war and the almost marked silence that followed causing the young Ada to have a rather obnoxious attitude toward her family lineage and a severe ignorance of what her parents experienced before bringing her into the world.
True beauty
There are numerous beautiful people in the story, I mean beautiful on the inside – warm, compassionate, generous people who nuture the characters and offer much needed support along the way, which I found very comforting in the rather tumultuous journey we are taken on in this novel.
Recommendation
I highly recommend this book because it takes hold of your heart in the first chapter and doesn’t let it go until the last. It invokes a heartbreaking appreciation of the struggle for survival and happiness, joy and peace and it wraps it in a bow with exquisite writing, narration and character development.
When you have read the book, please comment below to give me your thoughts. Hope you enjoy it as much as I did.
The recommendation of this book came from Reese’s Book Club.
