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By: WELL 189
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2026-03-14 13:36:29 |
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Beautifully written, and group keen on reading more books by this author. We loved and were intrigued by the quirky 'character' of the narrator fig tree. We were also interested to learn more about Cyprus' divided history, and felt a strong emotional connection through the stories of families and communities torn apart through the conflict. The inter-generational exploration of family history and trauma was covered well, and the father, daughter and aunt dynamic was an interesting way of revealing the story. |
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By: HAMIL 003
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2026-03-10 11:00:46 |
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Beautifully written, it flowed like poetry. The fig tree as a character became a major part of the story. After reading this story, we felt we would now have more empathy for plants. Set in Cyprus with its political unrest, this story triggered discussion of war, division, borders, cultural strife in other areas of the world and in general. When will we learn from these events? |
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By: WAIKA 010
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2026-03-07 10:39:26 |
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Everyone LOVED it. Beautiful, sensitive, descriptive writing. Recommend. |
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By: CHCH 558
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2026-01-22 19:13:09 |
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This is the second book we have read by Elif Shafak, and once again it is beautifully written in an accessible, easy-to-read style. We learned about the recent history of Cyprus and its divided capital, a subject that was new to us. The characters felt believable overall, though we would have liked Ada, the teenage girl, to be explored in more depth. Some of us felt the book contained moments of real quality but wanted more depth, while others enjoyed it so much they would happily read anything by this author. |
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By: ONAWE 001
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2025-12-03 15:01:31 |
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We enjoyed this book but didn't love it. The history of Cyprus was interesting. |
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By: GISB 017
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2025-11-30 14:42:25 |
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A challenging read found a bit slow by some, but adored by others. Great discussion stimulated. Some beautiful writing. |
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By: TAUR 061
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2025-11-28 21:16:27 |
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Never will we look at a tree in the same way again. Shafakâs personification of the Fig tree as an omniscient narrator was a clever literary technique. Initially for some, this was a challenge along with the changes in narrative voices/time/location. It was a slow burn! There were a multitude of concepts explored eg: migration, borders, religious/cultural strife, love/loss, inter generational trauma. All of which resonate with our current global landscape. Throughout all of this, the Fig tree stood resolute holding the history of both its land and its people. Highly recommended. |
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By: OWAKA 001
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2025-11-07 17:28:07 |
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A beautifully written book. Rich in metaphors and comparisons. Great storytelling. The Fig tree was interesting. |
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By: QUEEN 003
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2025-09-01 09:52:22 |
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This was a winner for our club: we unanimously gave it 5/5. Elif Shafak exhibits such extraordinary skill in telling this dramatic love story of "star-crossed lovers", a theme repeated by thousands of authors throughout history. This one, set in war-torn Cyprus and in London, has all the elements of a romantic tragedy, but the author raises this book to so much more, telling her story of two time periods and in two wonderfully described settings. She fills it with a rich cast of characters, the most unusual of which is a fig tree. Only a masterful storyteller could pull this off... |
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By: CHCH 020
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2025-06-10 20:00:09 |
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We all thought it beautifully written and thought the author had a lovely style that verged on poetic in places. This also helped us through some of the more tragic parts in Cyprus. How to grow a fig tree was a revelation but this method of laying it down for winter was verified by our own research. Kosta and Defne should have been together until old age parted them but the fact they weren't added to the story's character. Would recommend. |
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By: CHCH 001
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2025-06-04 12:42:21 |
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Although some members found the book difficult to relate to initially, as it progressed it was enjoyed overall. it was notable on different levels - history, characters and stories. |
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By: FEILD 001
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2025-04-30 10:28:07 |
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A brilliant book. Excellent discussion generated on many levels, on the many topics introduced in this book. |
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By: RICH 012
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2025-03-28 11:52:10 |
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Everyone enjoyed it and liked the writing style especially the fig tree. Interesting to find out some Cyprus history. |
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By: WHANG 018
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2025-03-10 14:52:55 |
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Most enjoyed the book - interesting style of writing. |
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By: DUNED 004
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2025-03-03 09:43:27 |
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Great writing. Everyone in the group loved this book. |
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By: CHCH 011
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2024-12-16 13:02:40 |
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We loved this novel. One of the best books we have read. It was a love story mixed with factual information and superstitions, beliefs, religion, nature, grief, heartbreak and war....it had it all. |
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By: PUKEKO 001
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2024-10-23 13:44:37 |
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Most of our group enjoyed this book. It took a little while to get into it, particularly with regard to the tree narration but we warmed to this. One member has been to Cyprus and found the writing evocative. The book had a lot of facts thrown into the narrative. Some enjoyed this. Others found it a bit overwhelming. An innovative book. |
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By: AUCK 272
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2024-10-21 11:39:41 |
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Learnt a lot about Cyprus. Very emotional. |
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By: DUNED 118
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2024-10-14 19:53:26 |
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Enjoyed by everyone. Initially uncertain with the tree narration but eventually enjoyed it. Characters excellent. |
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By: AUCK 038
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2024-10-10 09:51:48 |
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Easily our best read of the year - beautifully written. A highly compelling plot based on a tragic era in the history of Cyprus. |
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By: WHANG 028
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2024-10-09 13:24:07 |
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The political situation in Cyprus was unknown to most of us- very interesting from that aspect. And who would have thought you could bury a fig tree to keep it through winter! Very interesting book. |
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By: AUCK 135
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2024-07-31 13:19:50 |
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Was a wonderfully presented and interwoven story about Cyprus people and the difficulties they encounter. We learnt a lot from the well informed fig tree. |
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By: AUCK 027
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2024-07-01 11:25:55 |
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Atmospheric setting, very well-written. Well received by our group. |
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By: WELL 213
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2024-06-24 12:15:49 |
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Thoroughly enjoyed by several in the group, others were lukewarm. |
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By: TAUR 028
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2024-06-10 12:28:06 |
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A beautiful book about a broken island, love and grief. A powerful novel very much enjoyed by all the members. |
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By: DUNED 118
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2024-06-10 10:00:37 |
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Enjoyed by everyone. Initially uncertain with the tree narration but eventually enjoyed it. Characters excellent. |
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By: AUCK 412
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2024-06-08 19:47:26 |
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Everyone reallly enjoyed this book, after initially getting used to Fig Tree! All agreed that it was very cleverly written, giving us a great insight into the Turkish/Greek conflict about which none of us knew a lot. Very enjoyable read. |
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By: QUEEN 006
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2024-05-20 12:16:44 |
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Beautifully written. We loved the book - the many layers of imagery and symbolism, the contrasting characters and the way the author set them against the turbulence of a divided Cyprus. Most of us enjoyed the 'botanical' facts but some thought they were overdone. |
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By: PICT 005
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2024-05-15 16:38:29 |
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We all agreed the quality of the writing was impressive. On the whole we appreciated the fig tree's narration. We discussed the impact of repressed memories, displacement, damage to the environment, and also our set of photographs of Cyprus taken in 2002. |
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By: TAUR 023
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2024-05-06 12:38:33 |
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We all really enjoyed the book. 100% positive feedback. |
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By: AUCK 058
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2024-04-29 11:14:01 |
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A highly informative novel about life in Cyprus from the 1970s onwards with thoughtful characterisation, including the central narrator/character, the Fig Tree. The group thought the story was compelling and the detail interesting. |
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By: RICH 007
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2024-04-22 11:59:47 |
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Some of the group loved this book, others found it interesting and it provided a very good discussion. Good background to Cyprus in the 1970s, and the Turkish-Greek conflict. A comment was made that this story was constructed ( as many are currently) going back and forth in time between the present and the past. Some found this disruptive when following the narrative. |
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By: DUNED 001
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2024-03-04 11:12:03 |
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All but one really enjoyed this book, especially the quality of the writing. A truly beautiful story. |
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By: NAP 005
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2023-12-18 15:07:47 |
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Enjoyed by the group. Interesting read & lots of discussion. Our memories of Cyprus in the 70s were vague. Great use of concepts from the natural world including the personification of a fig tree. |
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By: CHCH 563
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2023-11-28 11:43:17 |
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Some loved it and gave it a high rating, while others struggled to get into it from the tree side of things! |
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By: WELL 194
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2023-11-02 14:13:53 |
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Everyone enjoyed this book. It prompted quite a discussion about conflicts where people divided by culture/history share the same homeland. |
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By: THAM 005
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2023-11-01 13:46:36 |
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The group was 50/50 split on whether the narration choice to have the fig tree's perspective worked or not. Some found the fig tree's chapters turned them off an otherwise compelling book; others loved the tree as a narrator. |
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By: AUCK 449
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2023-09-13 14:51:16 |
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We loved this book. Great story, well-written. The history of Cyprus was so interesting. |
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By: AUCK 422
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2023-09-01 16:49:01 |
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We felt that this book was prose driven rather than plot driven. But the setting in Cyprus in 1974 we found very interesting, as somehow the history of this island has not really impacted on us in NZ. |
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By: AUCK 218
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2023-08-21 09:30:57 |
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The majority liked or loved this book. |
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