Summary
2 Teenagers, a Christian Greek Cypriot and a Muslim Turkish Cypriot meet at a tavern on the island. They fall in love in secret amidst a civil war that divides the island and its people.
As these events unfold, a fig tree in the tavern witnesses their entire journey.
Decades later, Kostas returns, partly for work but mostly looking for his first love, Defne. They take part of the fig tree with them and travel to London.
Years later, their daughter Ada realises that the fig tree is her only connection to her heritage.
Review
This beautifully written novel covers so many topics. It’s a story about belonging, and lack thereof, transgenerational trauma, immigration, civil war, love and heartbreak, history, grief and family dynamics.
Elif Shafak was able to draw from historic events and include them so effortlessly in the novel. This is something I have noticed Shafak is extremely talented at doing. In The 40 Rules of Love, she was also able to weave historic events into a fictional story extremely well.
She was also able to discuss culture, history, religion and the intersections between them. I think one of my favourite aspects of the book is her descriptions of the emotions immigrants go through. She used birds and plants to beautifully describe emotions that I find difficult to put into words.
I was particularly impressed by the narration from the point of view of a fig tree. I can’t think of many writers that can write from the perspective of a tree and make the reader feel such strong emotions.
Overall, I would really recommend this to anyone looking to get into fiction. It is the perfect combination of fictional and non-fictional elements.
Some of My Favourite Quotes
