Elif Shafak had been wanting to write about Cyprus, the partial setting of her latest book The Island of Missing Trees, for a long time, she told an audience at last week's Cambridge Literary Festival.
The British-Turkish writer had never dared approach the sensitive topic, until now.
“It’s a very emotional story. The wounds are still open and there has been a lot of hurt and pain accumulated. How do you talk about a story that has so many layers, that has so much complexity, without falling into the trap of nationalism and tribalism?” asked the writer of 10 Minutes 38 Seconds in This Strange World, for which she was shortlisted for the Booker Prize in 2019.
Cyprus has been divided since 1974, when Turkey occupied the northern part of the island in response to a coup orchestrated by an Athens-backed junta seeking to annex the island to Greece.
Partially narrated by a fig tree, Shafak’s novel is set against the backdrop of the conflict, which led to the death, displacement and disappearance of thousands of Greek and Turkish Cypriots, in the still-divided island.
Set in Nicosia and London over four decades, the story looks at "intergenerational memory and trauma".
“Identity, belonging, immigration, displacement, being uprooted and re-rooted, are all themes that are vital in this book, but it’s also the story of a fig tree and ecological consciousness,” she said at the festival.
Personifying a fig tree – one of the novel’s narrators – helped Shafak to navigate the contentious and emotionally charged subject matter, she said.
"I’d been reading about ecology for some time but, like many of us, it was the pandemic that nudged me in that direction. I felt the need to reconnect with Earth and the things around us that we take for granted."
Shafak, who lives in London, and has written 19 fiction and non-fiction books, was triggered to write the The Island of Missing Trees by her own memories of cold winters in Michigan in the US, where she used to live.
“I used to see immigrant families there that would bury their fig trees throughout the winter if it was very cold and then unbury them the next spring when it was safe,” she said.
The story is primarily a tale of forbidden love between Kostas and Defne, a Greek Christian and a Turkish Muslim, who meet in a tavern called the Happy Fig. When the couple’s feelings for one another are endangered by the warring politics of the era, they immigrate to England, taking a small cutting of a fig tree with them.
The sapling later becomes the only knowledge the couple's daughter, Ada, will ever have of a home she has never visited, as she seeks to untangle years of secrets and silence and find her place in the world.
Planting the living relic in their adopted homeland represents the importance of "roots in the metaphorical sense", said Shafak, but she said it also asks whether a tree planted elsewhere remains the same.
"When you move to another country you have to accept that a part of you is going to die to allow for renewal."
Shafak hasn’t been able to return to her native Turkey for six years for fear of arrest after Turkish prosecutors launched various investigations into her novels for "insulting Turkishness" and "crimes of obscenity".
“I do miss Istanbul," she said, "but even though I am not there, it is always with me.”
KEY DEVELOPMENTS IN MARITIME DISPUTE
2000: Israel withdraws from Lebanon after nearly 30 years without an officially demarcated border. The UN establishes the Blue Line to act as the frontier.
2007: Lebanon and Cyprus define their respective exclusive economic zones to facilitate oil and gas exploration. Israel uses this to define its EEZ with Cyprus
2011: Lebanon disputes Israeli-proposed line and submits documents to UN showing different EEZ. Cyprus offers to mediate without much progress.
2018: Lebanon signs first offshore oil and gas licencing deal with consortium of France’s Total, Italy’s Eni and Russia’s Novatek.
2018-2019: US seeks to mediate between Israel and Lebanon to prevent clashes over oil and gas resources.
How to donate
Send “thenational” to the following numbers or call the hotline on: 0502955999
2289 – Dh10
2252 – Dh 50
6025 – Dh20
6027 – Dh 100
6026 – Dh 200
Real estate tokenisation project
Dubai launched the pilot phase of its real estate tokenisation project last month.
The initiative focuses on converting real estate assets into digital tokens recorded on blockchain technology and helps in streamlining the process of buying, selling and investing, the Dubai Land Department said.
Dubai’s real estate tokenisation market is projected to reach Dh60 billion ($16.33 billion) by 2033, representing 7 per cent of the emirate’s total property transactions, according to the DLD.
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
The specs
Engine: 1.5-litre turbo
Power: 181hp
Torque: 230Nm
Transmission: 6-speed automatic
Starting price: Dh79,000
On sale: Now
Banned items
Dubai Police has also issued a list of banned items at the ground on Sunday. These include:
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
Political flags or banners
-
Bikes, skateboards or scooters
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
Sinopharm vaccine explained
The Sinopharm vaccine was created using techniques that have been around for decades.
“This is an inactivated vaccine. Simply what it means is that the virus is taken, cultured and inactivated," said Dr Nawal Al Kaabi, chair of the UAE's National Covid-19 Clinical Management Committee.
"What is left is a skeleton of the virus so it looks like a virus, but it is not live."
This is then injected into the body.
"The body will recognise it and form antibodies but because it is inactive, we will need more than one dose. The body will not develop immunity with one dose," she said.
"You have to be exposed more than one time to what we call the antigen."
The vaccine should offer protection for at least months, but no one knows how long beyond that.
Dr Al Kaabi said early vaccine volunteers in China were given shots last spring and still have antibodies today.
“Since it is inactivated, it will not last forever," she said.
Why are asylum seekers being housed in hotels?
The number of asylum applications in the UK has reached a new record high, driven by those illegally entering the country in small boats crossing the English Channel.
A total of 111,084 people applied for asylum in the UK in the year to June 2025, the highest number for any 12-month period since current records began in 2001.
Asylum seekers and their families can be housed in temporary accommodation while their claim is assessed.
The Home Office provides the accommodation, meaning asylum seekers cannot choose where they live.
When there is not enough housing, the Home Office can move people to hotels or large sites like former military bases.
hall of shame
SUNDERLAND 2002-03
No one has ended a Premier League season quite like Sunderland. They lost each of their final 15 games, taking no points after January. They ended up with 19 in total, sacking managers Peter Reid and Howard Wilkinson and losing 3-1 to Charlton when they scored three own goals in eight minutes.
SUNDERLAND 2005-06
Until Derby came along, Sunderland’s total of 15 points was the Premier League’s record low. They made it until May and their final home game before winning at the Stadium of Light while they lost a joint record 29 of their 38 league games.
HUDDERSFIELD 2018-19
Joined Derby as the only team to be relegated in March. No striker scored until January, while only two players got more assists than goalkeeper Jonas Lossl. The mid-season appointment Jan Siewert was to end his time as Huddersfield manager with a 5.3 per cent win rate.
ASTON VILLA 2015-16
Perhaps the most inexplicably bad season, considering they signed Idrissa Gueye and Adama Traore and still only got 17 points. Villa won their first league game, but none of the next 19. They ended an abominable campaign by taking one point from the last 39 available.
FULHAM 2018-19
Terrible in different ways. Fulham’s total of 26 points is not among the lowest ever but they contrived to get relegated after spending over £100 million (Dh457m) in the transfer market. Much of it went on defenders but they only kept two clean sheets in their first 33 games.
LA LIGA: Sporting Gijon, 13 points in 1997-98.
BUNDESLIGA: Tasmania Berlin, 10 points in 1965-66
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
MATCH INFO
Europa League semi-final, second leg
Atletico Madrid (1) v Arsenal (1)
Where: Wanda Metropolitano
When: Thursday, kick-off 10.45pm
Live: On BeIN Sports HD
How much do leading UAE’s UK curriculum schools charge for Year 6?
- Nord Anglia International School (Dubai) – Dh85,032
- Kings School Al Barsha (Dubai) – Dh71,905
- Brighton College Abu Dhabi - Dh68,560
- Jumeirah English Speaking School (Dubai) – Dh59,728
- Gems Wellington International School – Dubai Branch – Dh58,488
- The British School Al Khubairat (Abu Dhabi) - Dh54,170
- Dubai English Speaking School – Dh51,269
*Annual tuition fees covering the 2024/2025 academic year
