Elif Shafak Interviewed by Suzi Feay

Leading British-Turkish novelist Elif Shafak talks about her latest work – a magical tale of belonging and identity, love and trauma, nature and renewal.

It is the story of two teenage lovers, Greek Cypriot Kostas and Turkish Cypriot Defne, who meet in a taverna on their island home. A fig tree in the centre of the taverna witnesses their happy meetings, their departures, the outbreak of war, and wartime destruction. Kostas returns decades later as a botanist looking for native species, but really for Defne. The two take a cutting of the tree and smuggle it to London. Years later, the fig tree in a London garden is their daughter Ada’s only knowledge of a home she has never visited as she seeks to untangle years of secrets and silence. 

Shafak is bestselling author of 12 novels and seven works of non-fiction that have been translated into 54 languages. 10 Minutes 38 Seconds in this Strange World was shortlisted for the Booker Prize, and The Forty Rules of Love was chosen by the BBC as one of 100 Novels That Shaped Our World. Here she talks to journalist and FT reviewer Suzi Feay.