Reviews with content warning for Death - L'isola degli alberi scomparsi

The Island of Missing Trees completely took my breath away. Shafak is a gorgeous writer - there were so many sentences and paragraphs where I had to pause and savor her words while others moved me to tears. I absolutely loved the chapters written from the point of view of the fig tree - they added a fresh and painfully heartbreaking perspective. I also loved the shifting timelines and how the past bled into the present no matter how desperately the characters tried to push it away.

This story offers an emotional exploration of intergenerational trauma and suffering, migration and home, and the simultaneous power and burden of memory. Weaving together human, plant, and animal perspectives made this story incredibly rich.

The one piece that irked me was the universalizing of humanity as being out of touch with the more than human world as well as responsible for most of its suffering. I feel that is a dangerous generalization to make as it erases many indigenous peoples throughout the world who are in deep relationship with the land.

cw: civil war, death of parent, grief/trauma

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challenging emotional reflective medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

The Island of Missing Trees is the story of Kostas and Defne and their daughter Ada. It unfolds in two main timelines - one in London in 2010 and one in Cyprus in the 1970s. One of the main narrators is a very special and wise fig tree, which I’ll admit sounds a little odd. It really worked for me but I imagine it won’t for all readers. It is a book that covers a lot of meaty topics - the legacy of colonialism, religious and ethnic conflict in Cyprus, guilt, migration, mental health, forbidden love, inter-generational trauma, the toll secrets take, grief, the pain of not knowing your past - and yet never feels unbearably heavy. While there is certainly heaviness there is also hope. The novel also includes a strong environmental theme woven throughout which I really appreciated. I loved the way factual information was integrated, the way the relationship between humans and the natural world was highlighted, and the way aspects of the natural world were used as allegories and metaphors for what the characters were experiencing. Shafak’s writing was lyrical and vivid, as beautiful and absorbing as I’ve come to expect. The food descriptions left me drooling and lamenting the lack of a local Cypriot restaurant. This book had lots of elements that I love - an exploration of meaty issues, characters that will stick with me, an interesting structure with alternating perspectives and a non-linear timeline, and gorgeous writing. Not to mention a strong environmental element which is always a bonus. So it’s no surprise that I loved it and gave it five stars.

“Because 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 does inside so that another part can start all over again.”

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