A Watermelon, a Fish and a Bible: A heartwarming tale of love amid war

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The novel has garnered critical praise from the likes of authors such as Benjamin Zephaniah and Daljit Nagra. So much more than another romantic beach read, this is a powerful piece of writing' Sunday Telegraph. --Sunday Telegraph

It is July 1974 and on a bright, sunny morning, the Turkish army has invaded the village of Kyrenia in Cyprus. For many people, this means an end to life as they know it. But for some, it is a chance to begin living again. Koki, a young villager, feared and hated by her neighbours for her startling red hair, has spent her life in shadow. But held captive in the house to which the women of Kyrenia have been brought, she can at last speak to them as an equal. She can tell them her story of a summer long ago. The young, Turkish shoe-maker who came to the village and took her heart away with him when he left. And how she has longed for him all these years and never known why he left, what took him away. Adem Berker is a Turkish soldier and for him, the invasion of his former home is an opportunity to seek out the woman he has loved for so many years. Waiting for a chance to return, his only thought has been of her. And so, by cover of darkness, he searches every house, every pathway for a glimpse of that head of flames. For Richard, growing old and grey in a dank bedsit in the centre of London, where the underground trains shake the foundations, the invasion of Cyprus stirs memories of his time as a British pilot, of a woman, a child and a secret it is becoming all too difficult to keep. While her parents successfully rebuilt their lives in London, she always felt a sense of something dark in their past.The author does not shy away from showing the horrors of war or of community disapproval of inter-racial relationships, but most of the worst horrors take place offstage. This is an effective way of showing them without dwelling on them and of giving them impact. The focus is on the island and its people, and on living and loving through difficult circumstances. The message of that book is essentially that if there was more friendliness and integration between the different ethnic communities and less intolerance and strife, then everything in Aphrodite's garden would be lovely. This is trite, but it is also true, and the author puts across that message effectively by telling the story from each community. A well-crafted structure and a troubled but engaging narrator power this moving story of Syrian refugees. raised his arms like a magician or religious leader or politician; it was hard to tell which in this day and age” The author was born to Cyprus refugees that moved to the UK in 1974, following the invasion of the island by Turkey. Born in 1980, Lefteri was raised in the British capital London, which is where she has lived most of her life. There book contains accounts of violent and distressing scenes, including some of the group of women being taken off to be gang raped and returned battered and bleeding. Even so it is beautifully written, and explores whether the main characters can come to terms with their past and present. It makes you want to know more about Cyprus and its history, and to be able to recount what happened to Koki and Maroulla to the sometimes violent past of such a beautiful island and it's people.

The book (or part of it) is set during the Turkish invasion of northern Cyprus which eventually led to the island being partitioned. Many Greek Cypriots fled and the title is the only three things one couple take from their house when they leave (they were about to cook). I think it is a symbol of the panic and chaos of the time.

Christmas Gifts

Adem Berker is a Turkish soldier and for him, the invasion of his former home is an opportunity to seek out the woman he has loved for so many years. Waiting for a chance to return, his only thought has been of her. And so, by cover of darkness, he searches every house, every pathway for a glimpse of that head of flames. Access-restricted-item true Addeddate 2020-12-10 08:23:19 Boxid IA1998922 Camera USB PTP Class Camera Collection_set printdisabled External-identifier I’m interested in going to Greece to research the wild fires that happened in Mati a few years ago. I’m interested in learning more about the effects of climate change on communities and families. I wouldn’t actively seek out further books as they don’t really fall into my preferred genres but they are informative, somewhat disturbing and structured with great research, thought and some personal knowledge.

Dear Ms. Lefteri, It is with the deepest respect and admiration that I write to you. The devastating story of The Beekeeper of Aleppo was so much more than a story of deep loss that war and dislocation creates. You have profoundly made the personal, universal. You have nurtured the deepest empathic sensibilities possible in your readers. Nuri and Afra are embedded in my heart, and they color my thoughts about the capacity for human suffering and recovery, as only a majestic author can do. From my heart I thank you for your art and your ability to touch the soul. Songbirds was inspired by real life events where five domestic workers and two children went missing in Cyprus and nobody searched for them because they were foreign. The Plice specifically refused to launch an investigation and said that they were not interested in concerning themselves with the lives of foreign maids. In 2010, she published her debut work “A Watermelon, a Fish, and a Bible” but it was her second novel that made her name as an author to watch.Everyone has always talked about Koki. They never believed she was her father's daughter and her mother died too soon to quiet their wagging tongues. And when she became pregnant and there was no sign of a husband, her fate was sealed. As Afra and Nuri travel across a landscape broken by the war, they have to confront not only their own unspeakable loss and pain but a lot of danger. The middle dragged a little as events played out over the five days. There's an immersion in memories of the past, both a sense of longing for what was as well as a lingering regret over how things played out over the years. Ostracism of the Other seems to be a key theme which recurs over and over again, both on a personal and a national level, with the microaggressions of the Greek-Cypriots against Adem and Koki seemingly representative the aggressions of the Greek-Cypriots towards the Turkish-Cypriots and the British in their midst on a national level. In retaliation, the Turkish soldiers rape the women and murder the men on a macro scale of revenge, even though these specific women have done nothing to them personally. Christy’s 2019 published work would go on to become a winner of the Aspen Words Literary Prize in 2020 and also become a bestselling title in the Sunday Times. The story is told from the point of view of three individuals, a Greek Cypriot woman with red hair, a Turkish Cypriot man now in the invading Turkish army and an Englishman formerly an RAF pilot stationed in Cyprus. These three characters are connected and we learn how through their memories and them telling their stories to others. All three are more integrated than was usual for their respective communities and have had love affair which crossed racial boundaries.