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A review by rorikae
The Island of Missing Trees by Elif Shafak
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' by Elif Shafak is a beautiful family story told through shifting timelines that follow different members of the Kazantzakis family, including the fig tree that grows in their back garden.
The story starts with Ada Kazantzakis, a teenager in the late 2010s who is grieving her mother's death and trying to find her place in the world. Her father is dealing with his own grief and pours his attention into their fig trees. Ada's story is interwoven with those of her parents, both when they were children in Cyprus, what happened to tear them apart, and what brought them back together again. Throughout these shifting stories, the fig tree tells its own understanding of events, including peeks into the world that its human companions never had the chance to see.
Elif Shafak's writing is so tender as she brings us along on the trials and tribulations of the Kazantzakis family. Through their narrative, we learn more about Cyprus and the tensions on the island as well as its beauty. This story sings in the minute details that Shafak touches on and her evocative prose. We care for each member of the Kazantzakis family, even amidst all of their faults that make them feel like real people. The use of the fig tree as a narrator weaves a little bit of magic into the prose that elevates the entire story. This is a story that will break your heart and then mend it right back up. I hope that this is on the shortlist for the Women's Prize for Fiction because it deserves to win. I will definitely be picking up more of Shafak's writing in the future because the emotions that she is able to convey through careful prose is heartrending and soothing all at once. Please read this book, you won't regret it.
The story starts with Ada Kazantzakis, a teenager in the late 2010s who is grieving her mother's death and trying to find her place in the world. Her father is dealing with his own grief and pours his attention into their fig trees. Ada's story is interwoven with those of her parents, both when they were children in Cyprus, what happened to tear them apart, and what brought them back together again. Throughout these shifting stories, the fig tree tells its own understanding of events, including peeks into the world that its human companions never had the chance to see.
Elif Shafak's writing is so tender as she brings us along on the trials and tribulations of the Kazantzakis family. Through their narrative, we learn more about Cyprus and the tensions on the island as well as its beauty. This story sings in the minute details that Shafak touches on and her evocative prose. We care for each member of the Kazantzakis family, even amidst all of their faults that make them feel like real people. The use of the fig tree as a narrator weaves a little bit of magic into the prose that elevates the entire story. This is a story that will break your heart and then mend it right back up. I hope that this is on the shortlist for the Women's Prize for Fiction because it deserves to win. I will definitely be picking up more of Shafak's writing in the future because the emotions that she is able to convey through careful prose is heartrending and soothing all at once. Please read this book, you won't regret it.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Mental illness, War, Death of parent, Grief, and Violence
Moderate: Abortion and Pregnancy