Name: Songbirds
ISBN: 9781838773762

Christy Lefteri

The powerful new novel from the bestselling author of The Beekeeper of Aleppo.

Songbirds

Cemrenur Solakoğlu

Yes, I love thinking about beginnings. I don't like endings, though I suppose I'm like most people in that. An ending can be staring you right in the face without your knowing it. Like the last cup of coffee you have with someone when you thought there would be many more. 

The truth is in the earth, in the song of the birds, in the rhythms and whispers of the animals. If you want to see and hear it only if you want to - it is there.'

"From the prize-winning author of The Beekeeper of Aleppo, a stunning novel about the disappearance of a Sri Lankan nanny and how the most vulnerable people find their voices. "It began with a crunch of leaves and earth. So early, so cold, the branches shone with ice. I'd returned to collect the songbirds. They are worth more than their weight in gold." Yiannis is a poacher, trapping the tiny protected songbirds that stop in Cyprus as they migrate each year from Africa to Europe and selling them on the black market. He dreams of finding a new way of life, and of marrying Nisha, who works on the island as a nanny and maid--having left her native Sri Lanka to try to earn enough to support her daughter, left behind and raised by relatives. But Nisha has vanished; one evening, she steps out on a mysterious errand and doesn't return. The police write off her disappearance as just another runaway domestic worker, so her employer, Petra, undertakes the investigation. Petra's unravelling of Nisha's last days in Cyprus lead her to Nisha's friends--other maids in the neighborhood--and to the darker side of a migrant's life, where impossible choices leave them vulnerable, captive, and worse. Based on the real-life disappearance of domestic workers in Cyprus, Christy Lefteri has crafted a poignant, deeply empathetic narrative of the human stories behind the headlines. With infinite tenderness and skill, Songbirds offers a triumphant story of the fight for truth and justice, and of women reclaiming their lost voices"--

A Novel

With Lefteri's own words, "It is a story about learning to see each and every human being in the same way as we see ourselves." I think the story doesn't stop at humans, it also includes animals, and that's a great thing in terms of pointing out the layers of suffering in our world.

pain, beautiful beautiful pain that ripped me open and left me hollow

Ilona Labská 

Amy Keast

Beth Benbow

Johan Anderson

Lauren Brown

The powerful Sunday Times bestseller. 'Will break your heart and open your eyes' Heather Morris, author of The Tattooist of Auschwitz 'I've never read anything quite like Songbirds - a beautifully crafted novel that sits at the intersection of race and class.' Jodi Picoult, bestselling author of Small Great Things She walks unseen through our world. Cares for our children, cleans our homes. She has a story to tell. Will you listen? Nisha has crossed oceans to give her child a future. By day she cares for Petra's daughter; at night she mothers her own little girl by the light of a phone. Nisha's lover, Yiannis, is a poacher, hunting the tiny songbirds on their way to Africa each winter. His dreams of a new life, and of marrying Nisha, are shattered when she vanishes. No one cares about the disappearance of a domestic worker, except Petra and Yiannis. As they set out to search for her, they realise how little they know about Nisha. What they uncover will change them all. Praise for Christy Lefteri: 'This thought-provoking novel of love loss and redemption is thoroughly sublime.' Caroline Montague 'Lefteri is an astonishing weaver of stories.' Daljit Nagra ' . . . broke my heart and kept me turning the pages of her gorgeous novel well into the night.' Alka Joshi, NYT-bestselling author of The Henna Artist and The Secret Keeper of Jaipur 'Christy Lefteri has crafted a beautiful novel, intelligent, thoughtful, and relevant.' Benjamin Zephaniah on The Beekeeper of Aleppo ' . . . it's impossible not to be moved by Lefteri's plea for humanity and perhaps inspired too.' Observer, on The Beekeeper of Aleppo 'Courageous, proactive, haunting.' Heather Morris, on The Beekeeper of Aleppo