Sample

Prime logo Prime members: New to Audible?
Get 2 free audiobooks during trial.
Pick 1 audiobook a month from our unmatched collection.
Listen all you want to thousands of included audiobooks, Originals, and podcasts.
Access exclusive sales and deals.
Premium Plus auto-renews for $14.95/mo after 30 days. Cancel anytime.
The Island of Missing Trees  By  cover art

The Island of Missing Trees

By: Elif Shafak
Narrated by: Daphne Kouma, Amira Ghazalla
Try for $0.00

$14.95/month after 30 days. Cancel anytime.

Buy for $23.99

Buy for $23.99

Pay using card ending in
By confirming your purchase, you agree to Audible's Conditions of Use and Amazon's Privacy Notice. Taxes where applicable.
activate_primeday_promo_in_buybox_DT

Publisher's summary

Bloomsbury presents The Island of Missing Trees by Elif Shafak.

A rich, magical new audiobook on belonging and identity, love and trauma, nature and renewal, from the Booker shortlisted author of 10 Minutes 38 Seconds in This Strange World.

Two teenagers, a Greek Cypriot and a Turkish Cypriot, meet at a taverna on the island they both call home. In the taverna, hidden beneath garlands of garlic, chili peppers and creeping honeysuckle, Kostas and Defne grow in their forbidden love for each other. A fig tree stretches through a cavity in the roof, and this tree bears witness to their hushed, happy meetings and eventually, to their silent, surreptitious departures. The tree is there when war breaks out, when the capital is reduced to ashes and rubble, and when the teenagers vanish. Decades later, Kostas returns. He is a botanist looking for native species, but really, he’s searching for lost love.

Years later, a Ficus carica grows in the back garden of a house in London where Ada Kazantzakis lives. This tree is her only connection to an island she has never visited - her only connection to her family’s troubled history and her complex identity as she seeks to untangle years of secrets to find her place in the world.

A moving, beautifully written and delicately constructed story of love, division, transcendence, history and eco-consciousness, The Island of Missing Trees is Elif Shafak’s best work yet.

©2021 Elif Shafak (P)2021 Bloomsbury Publishing Plc

What listeners say about The Island of Missing Trees

Average customer ratings
Overall
  • 4.5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    1,063
  • 4 Stars
    346
  • 3 Stars
    133
  • 2 Stars
    47
  • 1 Stars
    22
Performance
  • 4.5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    1,127
  • 4 Stars
    204
  • 3 Stars
    64
  • 2 Stars
    28
  • 1 Stars
    12
Story
  • 4.5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    940
  • 4 Stars
    303
  • 3 Stars
    125
  • 2 Stars
    40
  • 1 Stars
    22

Reviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.

Sort by:
Filter by:
  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Enchanting

A beautiful story about biology, history, family, identity, love, grief, and resilience that pulled at my heart strings.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

8 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Beautifully written

As usual, Elif Shafak transports you to a different part of the world and this time merges with the other living things around us: plants, trees...

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    4 out of 5 stars

Lovely story

I love the perspective in this story. Sweet, love story. I'm not a love story reader but the inclusion of the tree? So creative!

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Applause Worthy

I stood up and clapped and cried at the end of this book. Bravo, Ms. Shafak.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    4 out of 5 stars

Engaging read

I enjoyed listening to this novel especially due to the amazing voices of the narrator’s. It was a sweet story and I love getting a dose of history with novels.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Wonderful

Touching, unique, A story about love in many forms, all of which draw you in. Exquisitely narrated.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Unique storyline and characters

The entire story pulls at your heart - and the perspective from unique characters seems a bit strange at first but develops a flow and although there is sadness through a lot of the story it ends in a hopeful perspective.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

LOVED IT!!!!!!

I initially started this book and had a hard time with it, the narration, story, just did not gel but then I tried it again and instantly fell in love with it. I’m Greek and a book about the Greek and Turkish cultures was very interesting to me. It’s beautifully narrated and written, I can’t say enough about it.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Problem with the lecture

I loved the story but throughout most of the book the sentence beginnings were cut off so that it was very annoying and hard to listen to at times… but still well-worth listening to….just annoying

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Fascinating

My breath was taken through many of the chapters. It is a great novel with a tender emphasis on nature and a strong one on memory.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!