69 pages 2 hours read

Elif Shafak

The Island of Missing Trees

Fiction | Novel | Adult | Published in 2021

A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides that feature detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, quotes, and essay topics.

Part 6

Chapter Summaries & Analyses

Part 6: “How to Unbury a Tree”

Part 6, Chapter 65 Summary: “Interview”

Ada, Kostas, and Meryam celebrate New Year’s Eve together with a delicious home-cooked dinner by Meryam. Meryam begins packing the next day, promising Ada that she is welcome to call Meryam for advice on anything at all after she is gone. Ada asks Meryam to do the interview for her history homework, and Meryam sits down for it right away after brewing them each a cup of tea. She tells Ada about her childhood, divided into happy and unhappy on either side of when the conflict in Cyprus began. As Meryam talks about the troubles of the latter times, Ada expresses her understanding for why the older generation may have opposed her parents’ marriage; however, she cannot understand why her parents refused to talk about their past even after moving to England. To this, Meryam has no answer.

Part 6, Chapter 66 Summary: “Silences”

Nine months after Ada is born, Defne begins working for the CMP again interviewing Greek and Turkish Cypriot immigrant families in London. Through these conversations, she notices how the oldest generation hangs on to their pain, the second tries to suppress the past completely, and the third is the most curious to learn more about it: “It was the youngest who seemed to have the oldest memory” (315).

Related Titles

By Elif Shafak

Study Guide

logo

10 Minutes 38 Seconds in This Strange World

Elif Shafak

10 Minutes 38 Seconds in This Strange World

Elif Shafak

Plot Summary

logo

The Architect's Apprentice

Elif Shafak

The Architect's Apprentice

Elif Shafak

Study Guide

logo

The Bastard of Istanbul

Elif Shafak

The Bastard of Istanbul

Elif Shafak

Study Guide

logo

The Forty Rules of Love

Elif Shafak

The Forty Rules of Love

Elif Shafak

Study Guide

logo

There Are Rivers in the Sky

Elif Shafak

There Are Rivers in the Sky

Elif Shafak

Study Guide

logo

Three Daughters Of Eve

Elif Shafak

Three Daughters Of Eve

Elif Shafak