The Island of Missing Trees, Elif Shafak glassware In the delivery room the

In the delivery room the new mother is faced with a terrible choice

that vulnerability

rather than leave them behind

accessible introduction to war

The Island of Missing Trees, Elif Shafak glassware In the delivery room theTwo 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.