The Island of Missing Trees by Elif Shafak – 4 Stars

[Hannah]

I really enjoyed this story of family and love, and what happens to that love when people find themselves on different sides of a struggle. I felt that the characters were well-written and relatable, and I liked finding out more of their stories and lives, and seeing the scars that the next generation live with, whether their relatives stayed in Cyprus or moved abroad following the unrest. There were a number of gaps in the plot, but as I continued reading further, I started to believe that these were done deliberately as a way to show that there would be gaps in people’s understanding of what had happened as this information had been lost with the people who had disappeared.

[Amy]

This turned out to be such an interesting book. And our book group discussion was so incredible. Everyone brought something different to it.