The Island of Missing Trees by Elif Shafak

A rich and magical new novel about belonging and identity, love and vulnerability, nature and renewal, from Booker's handpicked author with 10 minutes and 38 seconds in this alien world.

Two teenagers, a Greek Cypriot and a Turkish Cypriot met in a pub on the island where they lived. In the tavern, hidden under garlands of garlic, chili, and viburnum, Kostas and Defne flourish in their forbidden love for each other. A fig tree stretched out in a recess of the roof, and this tree testified to their joyful meetings, and ultimately to their silent and secret departure. The tree was there when the war broke out, when the capital was reduced to ashes and ruins, and when the teenagers disappeared. Decades later, Kostas returns. He's a botanist in search of native species, but in reality, he's looking for lost love.

The following year, a Ficus carica tree grew in the back garden of a house in London where Ada Kazantzakis lived. This tree is her only connection to an island she has never visited, her only connection to the family's troubled history and complicated identity as she seeks to untangle many Five secrets to finding your place in the world.

A touching, beautifully written, and the delicately crafted tale of love, division, transcendence, history, and ecological consciousness, Island of the Lost Trees is Elif Shafak's finest work. hitherto.