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The Island of Missing Trees cover art

The Island of Missing Trees

Written by: Elif Shafak
Narrated by: Daphne Kouma, Amira Ghazalla
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Publisher's Summary

Bloomsbury presents The Island of Missing Trees by Elif Shafak.

A rich, magical new audiobook on belonging and identity, love and trauma, nature and renewal, from the Booker shortlisted author of 10 Minutes 38 Seconds in This Strange World

Two teenagers, a Greek Cypriot and a Turkish Cypriot, meet at a taverna on the island they both call home. In the taverna, hidden beneath garlands of garlic, chili peppers and creeping honeysuckle, Kostas and Defne grow in their forbidden love for each other. A fig tree stretches through a cavity in the roof, and this tree bears witness to their hushed, happy meetings and eventually, to their silent, surreptitious departures. The tree is there when war breaks out, when the capital is reduced to ashes and rubble, and when the teenagers vanish. Decades later, Kostas returns. He is a botanist looking for native species, but really, he’s searching for lost love. 

Years later, a Ficus carica grows in the back garden of a house in London where Ada Kazantzakis lives. This tree is her only connection to an island she has never visited - her only connection to her family’s troubled history and her complex identity as she seeks to untangle years of secrets to find her place in the world.

A moving, beautifully written and delicately constructed story of love, division, transcendence, history and eco-consciousness, The Island of Missing Trees is Elif Shafak’s best work yet.

©2021 Elif Shafak (P)2021 Bloomsbury Publishing Plc

What listeners say about The Island of Missing Trees

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loved this

I will think about this book for a long time .it is one of those books that hit my very favorite list. Beautifully written very engaging story between 1974 and the present. I also learnt a lot of things from this book, not only about Cyprus but what a fig tree taught me!

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Slow burn but worth it

Starts off a bit slow but the writing is beautiful and the overall story pays off.

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  • BDS
  • 2023-02-19

Heartwarming

Beautiful. One of my top 5 2022 best reads
Just made me want to go back on these lands and inhale

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Easy to listen, yet complex

Loved the book, this was my first audible book..must say enjoyed listening ….it’s almost like listening to the radio in the old days

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An unexpected treasure!

Deeply moving, this creative and informative novel gives you an education and an understanding of the connection between humans and nature within the historical background of the Cyprian crisis of 1974.
Lovely to listen to on a Greek island;)

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Loved the story and its flow

I truly enjoyed the way Elif Shafak tell her story and giving everyone and everything voices. This was my first book of her but I will read many more books by her.

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A stunning juxtaposition of the mystical and the reality.

I loved this book. Going back in forth in time to explore a harsher time, of civil war and cultural tensions. It is above all a story of hope.

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Loves this book

I can’t stop thinking about it! Seriously an amazing novel. Yes, slow to get into it, but then you will wish it never ended

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Fantastic

A wonderful book and a fantastic reading. Deep and insightful I had to listen to it a second time.
Best purchase I ever made.

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A love story, about an island

Beautifully written and perfectly narrated. A story like no other, mixing history, legends, and religion. A book that teaches us about trees, but also about humans.

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