Title: The Island of Missing Trees
Author: Shafak, Elif
Publisher: VIKIN
Pages: 354
Date Read: 16 April 2024
Bookshelves: read, favorites
My Rating (out of 5): ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
A dear friend got me this book in in 2021 but i did not get to read it till a few months ago. Why? You ask. Well because I vow to read exactly one Shafak per year. Good authors are in short supply these days so I like to take my time before exhausting the supply of a proven author’s works.
I am no stranger to Shafak and her style of writing. So I began this book with understandably high expectations. And while it is not her best work, I am happy to report that the author did not disappoint by any metric. It is a well-written story.
Shafak writes about two teenagers that found love at a time of war. And how this conflict changed their lives in irreparable ways. The author goes into detail about the conflict and its origins, the aftermath, the carnage and the effects of the conflict on an island a lot more people used to call home.
In this story, Shafak explores familiar themes of friendship, love, loss, family and grief in distinct style. She tells the story from the perspective of the main characters, which added flavour and depth to the story. We also hear the story from the perspective of a fig tree, which left me with a renewed appreciation for how trees curate their history over time. I am not ashamed to admit that this led me into rabbit holes of tree growth rings and the science of how these predict the age of a tree with serious accuracy.
I don’t recall as much from the book as this review is coming 5 months late. That said, I remember that the book left a good taste in my mouth (as do all Shafak’s books to be fair).
An enjoyable read if you’re a fan of well-written historical fiction.