In The Island of Missing Trees, true love wars with catastrophic division over multiple generations. It is a devastating but magical story from British-Turkish writer Elif Shafak, a 2019 Booker Prize finalist for 10 Minutes 38 Seconds in This Strange World.
"Love is the bold affirmation of hope.... You don't fall in love in Cyprus in the summer of 1974," but Greek Christian Kostas and Turkish Muslim Defne do fall deliriously for each other. They hide their taboo relationship from their families, meeting at a tavern owned by two men who understand that love can bring danger. Decades later, the two leave Cyprus for London, Kostas carrying a fig sapling from the tavern and Defne carrying a child. Many years afterward, Kostas and their teen daughter, Ada, struggle to relate to each other and cope with their grief after Defne's death. The arrival of Defne's sister, Meryem, whom Ada has never met, shakes up the fractured household but could hold the seeds of healing. The now-grown fig tree steals the narrative spotlight with asides to readers in her eloquent, sensitive voice, especially when holding forth on the rich, hidden lives of her botanical brethren.
Images of transformation and transition gracefully emerge and recur as Shafak explores what love can and cannot heal. Her moving depiction of inherited trauma will stay with readers, as will her insightful nods to war's effects on the natural world. Despite the unfortunate decision to kill off some important characters, this tragic tale tempered by enduring love and a fantastical ending is an overall triumph. --Jaclyn Fulwood, blogger at Infinite Reads