The Island of Missing Trees

In The Island of Missing Trees by Elif Shafak, young lovers Defne and Kostas are torn apart by the Cyprus war in the 1970s. When they meet again, 25 years later, Defne has become part of a team dedicated to finding graves of war victims and Kostas has become a scholar who focuses on trees. Their career paths mirror the emotional journeys they have taken since they were separated. Defne has buried the secrets from her past. Kostas has not healed from his memories of times with Defne at the local tavern, The Happy Fig. We discuss the book, what we remember about the war in Cyprus, sentient trees, #CanYouHearMeNow, and much more.