The Island of Missing Trees

The Island of Missing Trees is a richly layered novel by acclaimed British‑Turkish author Elif Shafak, intertwining historical fiction, romance, and a quiet meditation on memory, identity, and the lasting echoes of trauma. Set against the backdrop of Cyprus’s fractured history, the story moves between two timelines: the 1970s on the divided island and the 2010s in London, where Ada Kazantzakis — the daughter of a Greek Cypriot and a Turkish Cypriot — seeks to understand her cultural heritage and her mother’s past.

The narrative opens with Ada grappling with grief and silence following her mother’s death, while cuttings of a fig tree — the sole physical link to her family’s roots — silently witness and narrate key aspects of the story. Through multiple perspectives, including the unique voice of a fig tree planted in their London garden, Shafak explores forbidden love, generational memory, and the intertwined nature of human and environmental histories. The result is a novel that feels both intimate and epic, blending personal grief with collective history and offering a thoughtful reflection on belonging, loss, and renewal.

Shortlisted for major literary awards including the Costa Novel Award and the Women’s Prize for Fiction, and chosen as a Reese’s Book Club pick, this book has resonated with readers around the world for its haunting prose and emotional depth.