The Island of Missing Trees
Failed to add items
Add to cart failed.
Add to wishlist failed.
Remove from wishlist failed.
Follow podcast failed
Unfollow podcast failed
2 credits with free trial
Buy Now for ₹888.00
No valid payment method on file.
We are sorry. We are not allowed to sell this product with the selected payment method
-
Narrated by:
-
Daphne Kouma
-
Amira Ghazalla
-
Written by:
-
Elif Shafak
About this listen
Brought to you by Penguin.
Shortlisted for the Women’s Prize 2022
A Reese Witherspoon Book Club pick.
A top 10 Sunday Times best seller.
Shortlisted for the Costa Novel Award 2021.
A rich, magical new novel 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. The taverna is the only place that Kostas and Defne can meet in secret, hidden beneath the blackened beams from which hang garlands of garlic and chilli peppers, creeping honeysuckle, and in the centre, growing through a cavity in the roof, a fig tree. The fig tree witnesses their hushed, happy meetings; their silent, surreptitious departures. The fig tree is there, too, when war breaks out, when the capital is reduced to ashes and rubble, when the teenagers vanish. Decades later, Kostas returns—a botanist, looking for native species—looking, really, for Defne. The two lovers return to the taverna to take a clipping from the fig tree and smuggle it into their suitcase, bound for London. Years later, the fig tree in the garden is their daughter Ada's only knowledge of a home she has never visited, as she seeks to untangle years of secrets and silence, and find her place in the world.
The Island of Missing Trees is a rich, magical tale of belonging and identity, love and trauma, nature and renewal, from the Booker-shortlisted author of 10 Minutes 38 Seconds in this Strange World.
©2021 Elif Shafak (P)2021 Penguin AudioCritic Reviews
"What a wonderful read! This book moved me to tears...in the best way. Powerful and poignant." (Reese Witherspoon)
"One of the best writers in the world today." (Hanif Kureishi)
"Shafak makes a new home for us in words." (Colum McCann)
What listeners say about The Island of Missing Trees
Average Customer RatingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Anonymous User
- 30-01-23
amazing
totally loved it, each and every aspect of the book was amazing. highly recommended. must read for people of any interest as this book offers so much.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Anonymous User
- 22-02-24
Just beautiful ! History, love story, mental health, nature - a seamless knitting together of it all
Elif Shafaq is a marvellous storyteller. I have been hooked and have listened to Bastard of Istanbul, 10 minutes 38 seconds, 40 rules of love and now the island of missing trees - this one I felt was her best.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Anonymous User
- 27-05-24
connects with the mind of a tree
like always her works are engaging, deep full of love and longing, wondering at the mindless hate humans are capable of.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Anonymous User
- 13-10-24
Exceptional writing and great narration
Very touching story. Ms Elif Shafaq has a real gift of storytelling. Add to this, the narration is extraordinary, especially the fig tree.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Anonymous User
- 04-04-22
A wise and beautiful story
I am now a die hard fan of Elif Shafak. What a beautiful production. I now plan to read the book just for fun.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Anonymous User
- 04-01-24
A heartbreaking story of hope and resilience
What an amazing story! Made absolutely enjoyable with amazing Narrayion. Thank you to the narrators for doing the book, the justice it deserved and Thank you Elia, for telling a story which is still relevant now, and my heart breaks for the people and communities that suffer amidst the war raging
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Anonymous User
- 11-01-23
Beautiful Story that has so much melancholy !
It's a wonderful story rich in history and a very different point of view. The non-linear narration is very intriguing. I initially struggled to move forward but then I'm glad I stuck to it. Great performance by the way. The accents were really fresh and nice.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Anonymous User
- 07-08-23
The mesmerising raft of intangible whispers
The trickle down insinuations that this story drags you into is rather inscrutable to put into words. It tickles the cacophonous melodies and epiphanies screens trapped in the unsung mysteries of your brain. You start living a melancholic life that isn’t even yours. And participate in convoluted realities you weren’t part of. Overall it is a well written novel with a charisma of captivating you in a remorseful atrocities and the heartfelt relationships.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Anonymous User
- 25-08-22
Strikingly Original, A Thing of Beauty
Shafak tells a wonderful tale of love, life, loss, grief, and so much more..... Heartbreaking, yet a triumph of love and the human soul.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Parag
- 27-11-22
Beautiful prose but fragmented story
The first two things that pulled me into the story was it's exquisite prose and excellent narrator.
It's the story of two Cypriot lovers who belonged to warring ethnicities, told in flashback, with their daughter as the primary vehicle for the story to be narrated. If this sounds confusing, it's because the story is narrated through four POVs and three timelines, which, in my opinion was quite confusing.
The book touches on important themes like ethnic conflict, the importance of ecological conservation, lesser known facts about flora and fauna, forbidden love, and the need of a teenager to reconnect with her roots.
However, these are too many themes for one book. Unfortunately, the story is neither able to do full justice to the main theme of conflict nor the story of Costas and Daphne.
Having the fig tree narrate part of the story was a great idea, but would have worked out much better if it's narration was limited to telling the history of Cyprus and the lovers, without giving lessons in botany and zoology.
At about 60% of the book, the meanderings and diversions into the above mentioned lessons made the story drag. I was beginning to lose interest, but I continued purely because I wanted to know how the story ended.
The ending was the better part of the last 40%. It was tender, beautiful, and satisfying in a philosophical way.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
1 person found this helpful