It was when I read the contents page that I wondered what we had chosen for book club. "PART ONE How to bury a tree, PART TWO Roots" and so on. Should I have worried? Well, despite certain chapters narrated by Fig Tree, (some of which I liked and some I skipped) there is much to enjoy in this book.
The best parts for me were those chapters that involved sixteen-year-old Ada, the young daughter of Kostas and Define. The parent's story in war torn Cyprus is a bit of a Romeo and Juliet plot, this time with Greeks and Turks on opposite sides. Once I got over this obvious plot device, the scenes on the island from 1974 and onwards are interesting. These alternate with Ada in London in the 201o's. She has never been to Cyprus and feels isolated in a school where being an outsider can be hard.
When Ada's aunt arrives, stories of her Turkish heritage start to emerge. We know from the first few pages that Ada's mother died so those chapters about Define's relationship with Kostas are all the more poignant. So, this is partly a study in grief for both Ada and her father, whilst at its heart a love story from years ago. Just don't get me started about trees!
P.S. The review in The Scotsman caught my eye with a very positive review, when it said about the fig tree: "enough of this stuff, novels are about people ......... a lot of this novel is journalism". I couldn't agree more.
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