Songbirds by Christy Lefteri
I had read The Beekeeper of Aleppo so I was very keen to read this new book by the same author. Again it deals with the problems which those on the edge of society encounter. This is the story of Nisha, a maid from Sri Lanka, working in Cyprus. She has left her daughter in the care of her mother in order to try and earn money. She works caring for Petra’s 9 year old child, Aliki. Petra is a widow but is in a relationship with her lodger, Iannis, who is a redundant banker. He makes a living by illegally poaching songbirds. The book interweaves the story of her life in Cyprus where many middle class people have domestic servants from overseas and the life of her daughter living in Sri Lanka with her grandmother.When Nisha disappears the police show no interest in finding her so Petra and Iannis decide to search for her themselves. The story is based on real events in Cyprus when it came to light that a number of domestic servants had gone missing and the police had done little or nothing to investigate.
It is an emotive story and I was fascinated by the lives of these domestic servants and the way in which they are exploited by those from the west. Workers in Eurpoe would not tolerate the hours or conditions which they assume their servants will accept without complaint.
'Songbirds' is a moving story that will stay with me. Cyprus is very well conjured up and the imagery around the poached birds is very effective. It is a timely novel about racism and exploitation that makes you think deeply.
Many thanks to the author, the publishers and Net Galley for the opportunity to read this book in return for an honest review.

oh my goodness, what a novel. I loved the Beekeeper of Aleppo and this blew me away for a second time. The language is powerful and really evokes the landscape and the time. It opened my eyes to a time and area I was sadly unaware and ignorant of and gives beauty to Nisha - an immigrant who is unable to tell the world her story. You are hooked, following the hunt for our missing person touching on class, race and who really cares when someone lower down the chain disappears. So sad and beautiful.

Sad and beautiful, another poignant read from Christy Lefteri.

Set in Cyprus, the story concentrates on Nisha - a Sri Lankan maid, who left behind her 2 year old daughter ten years ago, in order to be able to send money home. She talks to her daughter on a tablet most nights, but the physical love she has to give goes to Aliki, daughter of Petra for whom she works.

When Nisha goes missing, no one in authority wants to know - she's just another expendable maid - and so it's up to Petra, and to Yiannis, Nisha's lover to pursue the truth.

Heartbreaking and raw, this is a story that rings true - and brings the whole subject of domestic servitude to the fore.

I absolutely loved the Beekeeper of Aleppo and so I couldn't wait to pick this book up. The book is beautifully written and filled with symbolism which seems like a key theme for this author. The narrative was so engaging and kept me turning the pages. This book had such great depth and a truly harrowing storyline about seeking refuge. It is told through the narrative of multiple people discussing the one person which made this novel even more unique!

Unfortunately life has got in the way and I haven’t had a chance to read and review this book, but it’s one I’m hoping to get to soon

Do you ever get worried when a book is so good, you fear it can't be followed up? After loving The Beekeeper Of Aleppo I was excited to read this new book from the same author. And I needn't have worried as we are in safe hands with Christy Lefteri who once again gives the reader another book of beautiful, heartbreaking storytelling.

This time we are transported to Cyprus and the numerous young women who come from Sri Lanka and Vietnam to find work and send money home to their relatives. Nisha is one of those women. A widow, she leaves her two year old daughter in Sri Lanka, to work as a maid and nanny in Cyprus, for Petra, who herself has just lost her husband. Nisha does everything for Petra and brings up her daughter Aliki, like her own. But then one night, Nisha mysteriously disappears.

After a few days Petra goes to the police to report Nisha missing. But they do not care. It is up to Petra to try and solve the mystery and bring Nisha back.

We find out more about Nisha from her friends and Yiannis, her upstairs neighbour and secret lover. He is a poacher and catches rare songbirds which are an illegal delicacy. Once again nature is weaved delicately through the book. He earns good money but grows a conscious and wants to get out. He dreams of a life with Nisha. And he is distraught at her disappearance.

It isn't until Nisha is gone that Petra realises she has taken her for granted. Nisha has worked and lived with Petra for 9 years. Brought up her child. But she's a stranger to Petra. Petra has treated her like an employee rather than a friend. Petra realises there is so much she didn't know. Including the other maids stories and how they are treated.

I don't want to say much more for fear of spoiling it. But this is a tender, haunting and poignant book inspired by real life events. Thank you so much to the publisher for allowing me to read this.

Songbirds - Christy Lefteri

A truly beautifully written novel, and will definitely stay with me for a while, although heart breaking. The descriptions of the scenes and characters were so well done. The only thing that I did not like was the slower pace, as I do tend to like a book that I can't put down.

After loving The Beekeeper of Aleppo I was intrigued to read more by Lefteri.

This story is based on true life disappearances of domestic workers in Cyprus. I do think reading the authors note is important here. I found it added to the story and how I took it.
Knowing this was based on true events it made this harder and more heartbreaking.

Lefteri writing is beautiful. Sad but beautifully done. The pacing felt perfect. I didnt find myself struggling (minus just my own mood which was 100% me and not the book)

We never get to hear from Nisha herself. But we get to see how those around her saw her. The close bond of Aliki and the impact she had on her life. How much Yiannis loved her. We also get to learn a little about how she keeps a relationship with her daughter that she sadly had to leave behind.

The police angered me. Nisha life was important. Just as the other women and children's lives were important. It shouldn't matter where you are from, if something happens to you you deserve a real investigation into it. They deserved more. Imagine the lives that could have been saved if the police took the first disappeared seriously instead of brushing it away like they don't matter.

Also hearing the killer doing it because he knew no one would be looking for them so it was easier. It was heartbreaking and angered me.

Overall this was difficult at times but important to read.

Stunning. Beautiful. I was so excited to read this and it more than lived up to my pre-conceived, resoundingly positives, notions. Moving and emotive.

I purchased this one as the EARC copy was archived before I could download. Another book I would highly recommend!

💡Keywords:
Migrants
Institutionalised racism
Loss

Following the massive success of The Beekeeper of Aleppo, I knew I had to read Christy Lefteri’s next novel, Songbirds.

Set in Cyprus, Songbird follows the characters of Petra and Yiannis on their emotional journey after the disappearance of Nisha, a Sri Lankan maid and nanny.

What Lefteri brings to light is the anguish that many experience, making the choice to leave their homelands so that they can find work elsewhere to support their families.

I also loved the way in which Lefteri identifies the racism that migrants are faced with.

The novel is presented as a duel narrative, and I really enjoyed how the story unravels between the two characters.

Personally, I preferred Songbirds to Beekeeper, and so would definitely recommend to everyone!

This is such a sad and poignant book. It discusses so many issues (poaching, human rights, mother-daughter relationships, friendship, parenting at a distance, human-traffikking and many more), a mystery and a romance, without being heavy handed. It deals a few punches, provoking thought.

The descriptions of life in Cyprus and the island itself were very interesting. It is narrated by two characters, Petra the employer and Yiannis the lover. Both should have known Nisha and her circumstances better. Both had a touching faith that she would not have left without saying goodbye. They knew something was wrong.

This is a slow moving novel but it is a compelling story and very well written. It will stay with you for days after you have finished it.

Songbirds is a haunting and highly emotive read highly influenced by real events in Cyprus in which five female migrant domestic workers and two children disappeared. The authorities failed to investigate because it was assumed they had chosen to move on.

"Songbirds is a story migration and crossing borders: it is about searching for freedom, for a better life, only to find oneself trapped. It is a story about the way in which systemic racism exists often unquestioned, relying upon prejudice and nationalistic ideas to survive. It is a story about learning to see each and every human being in the same way as we see ourselves."

Songbirds tells the tale of Nisha, a live-in nanny from Sri Lanka who disappears unexpectedly one night leaving behind her prized possessions. Her story is told from the point of view of the man who loves her, Yiannis and her employer, Petra.

"One day, Nisha vanished and turned to gold.

She turned to gold in the eyes of the creature stood before me. She turned to gold in the morning sky and in the music of the birds. Later in the shimmering melody of the maid from Vietnam who sang at Theo's restaurant. Later still, in the faces and voices of all the maids that flowed along the streets like a trubulent river of anger, demanding to be seen and heard. This is when Nisha exists. But let's go back. We need to go back."

Petra initially is pretty unlikeable, only seeing Nisha essentially as her property not as a person in her own right. It is only when she is no longer there that she begins to question who Nisha really is.

"I had never thought about her before. I had failed to recognise that she, too, was a woman with pain and hopes."

Songbirds highlights the way in which migrant women come looking for better life chances only to find themselves at risk of modern slavery. At best they have their movements on days off restricted by their employer and little say over their personal lives. At worst they are at risk of prostitution, abuse and financial abuse.

Songbirds is a beautifully written and emotive story in and of itself with compelling characters but it is so much more powerful when you think of the take home message:

"When you clump people together and don't understand their personal stories, you can make up any bullshit and convince yourself it's the truth."

It took a bit of time to get into this book - had to try twice because the first time I was struggling (in part due to a lack of motivation). But I’m really glad that I persevered. There were moments I wasn’t entirely sure, little scenes I didn’t feel were entire necessary (lots of stories of the past that were nice but didn’t always feel relevant). But all in all I have enjoyed this story. I love the characters - especially Petra, Nisha and Aliki. It was really interesting to read about a place I know little about, absorbing some of the culture (that I hope is accurate) and exploring the lives of women who are treated rather quite badly. Modern Slavery is a real and dangerous thing, it’s not okay, and it is such a significant situation to include in a novel. I will miss this book and these characters. Maybe not quite as much as the Beekeeper of Aleppo, but it’s a very good second novel.

Thank you for my copy of this book to review.

I really enjoyed The Bee Keeper of Aleppo so was really looking forward to reading this.

Christy Lefteri has a beautiful way of writing, even on such difficult subjects, and she keeps you turning the pages. I was thinking about this book even after I’d put it down.

It was haunting & emotional but also uplifting at times. Based on a true story, I was unaware of the economic migration & the prejudice towards these people so I have learnt a lot from this book too.

I enjoyed how the story was narrated by two different characters & we learnt about Petra & Yiannis, alongside Nisha’s disappearance.

I have already recommended this book to others & I will be looking out for more from this author in the future.

This story is told by Petra and Yannis. Petra is Nisha’s employer, and Yannis is Nisha’s secret boyfriend. These two characters are sharing their stories about Nisha, Yannis is sharing it as a boyfriend, and Petra as a woman, who’s maid has disappeared. So Nisha is a protagonist of this story, even though she is not there to tell it herself. I really liked how all the characters unfolded in this book, they have such a different view of Nisha. Patra sees her as a thing that she owns, and I could not stand this kind of attitude. I really appreciate her journey towards the realisation that Nisha was a human, with feelings and a past. Yannis, on the other hand, is able to show us the true Nisha, even though I really did not like his poaching descriptions. I hope that Cyprus does not actually have such a horrible attitude towards immigrants, it is very sad to see such behaviour and disrespect to humans and their lives. 😦

The plot of this book is pretty slow, and not many twists or turns are happening. However, the whole story flows very smoothly, like a refreshing stream through mountains. I was very absorbed by this story and was very keen to find out, what actually happened to Nisha. There are so many gory details about body decomposition and hunting of animals, that left me angry and upset on many occasions. The topics discussed in this book are modern slavery, lack of basic human rights, poaching, mother-daughter relationship, miscarriage, a life of an immigrant, friendships, illegal hunting, and many more.

The writing style of this book is stunning! It is filled with lyrical and poetic descriptions of places and events that made this book so beautiful, exotic and heartbreaking. The setting keeps constantly changing depending on the character. The chapters have medium length, but the story was so engrossing, that the pages just flew by for me. The ending of this book was a little predictable but still, the author rounded this book very well. I have to throw in a disclaimer that this book is full of triggers, and most probably you will wipe a tear or two. 😉

So, to conclude, it is a beautifully written novel, filled with complex and layered characters as well as a plot that is very absorbing but cruel and heartbreaking at the same time. I really liked this book, I know that it will stay with me for a while, and I would strongly recommend it to someone who missed a good read.

I was a huge fan of The Beekeeper of Aleppo so I couldn't wait to read Lefteri's next book. I also lived in Cyprus for a year so was even more interested to read this.

Songbirds is the heartbreaking tale of a woman who goes missing and which marks the beginning of a series of disappearances across Cyprus. The story is told from 2 perspectives and each of these protagonists experience the after affects of Nisha's disappearance in different ways. Of course, they both experience loss but Petra learns so much more about Nisha and how much she actually meant to her through this loss and Yiannis makes some bold and life changing decisions inspired by how much Nisha meant to him.

Lefteri's style of writing is excellent. She completely immerses the reader and you become so connected to the characters. I really liked how much Petra grew throughout the whole book and I felt we really became a part of her world. From getting to know Petra's neighbours, to where she lives, to her working life, Lefteri builds the bigger picture in a way that we truly get to know the characters on such a personal level.

I loved the descriptions of Nicosia and other parts of Cyprus. It really transported me back to when I lived there but I won't lie, it did open my eyes to a whole other side of it. Of course I know that every country and city has a dark side but the more I read this book, the more I started to remember a few small things that supported a lot of what we see in this book. It's so sad to know that disappearance like this happen every day without many of us realising.

So overall, I really loved this book. It was very different to The Beekeeper of Aleppo but I still loved it. I found The Beekeeper of Aleppo slightly more harrowing and a little bit more powerful but Songbirds is still excellent. It highlights an issue that many would rather ignore and the writing is so good. I can't wait to see what Lefteri comes out with next. A big thanks to Net Galley for letting me read it before it was published.

At the start the author's note explains why she wrote this. In response to those that thought the Beekeeper of Aleppo was about 'proper immigrants' she has written a book focusing on those moving country for economic reasons.

Nisha is a nanny and housekeeper who goes missing and we gradually get to know through her employer, boyfriend and some other migrant workers.
It is shocking how the people doing the most important jobs such as bringing up children are virtually invisible and/or controlled.
I did want to love this more than I did as it's an important topic and well written but it just didn't grab me somehow.
The slow pace did reflect the lack of urgency and concern for these women but was a bit too slow in places.

Thank you to Netgalley, the publisher and author for a free copy in exchange for an honest review.

Thank you to Tracy Fenton for my invitation to the tour and to Zaffre my copy of the book in return for a fair and honest review.

Nisha has brought up in Sri Lanka but has come to Cyprus and is living and working with Petra and is a Nanny to her daughter Aliki, she has had to leave her own daughter Kumari in Sri Lanka and only keeps in touch by telephone. She has had to compartmentalise her life to be able to cope with this situation she finds herself in.

Petra has also had a difficult life losing her husband whilst pregnant had a huge effect on her and her relationship with Aliki.

I read The Beekeeper of Aleppo a couple of years ago and I absolutely loved it and particularly the authors writing which is so beautiful and emotive.

Again this book is about migrants and as with The Beekeeper, it looks at the story of a lives that they now have and the one they once had.

Then one night Nisha fails to come home after a night out and to begin with Petra is not worried but as time goes on she begins to be concerned and others are too.

Yiannis, a widow who is also a poacher and was in a relationship with Nisha and had proposed the night before she disappeared. When Petra searches her room she discovers that she has left precious items behind which lead her to believe that she has not left of her own accord.

They have to involve the police however they are not very helpful or interested and the racism comes into the forefront. As the police have no time for migrants and in particular women migrants. Petra begins to realise that her Nisha and her have more in common than she first thought.

The descriptions of the landscapes in the book are really beautiful and I felt like I was transported to the Island and I was gripped by the intensity of the storytelling by this incredible author.

Another beautiful and moving novel from this incredibly talented author, it is hard to read in places for the journey these women endure is heartbreaking and Nisha’s story will stay with me for a long time.

Breathtaking ! 5 stars ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Lefteri does not disappoint with this amazing book. The characters are well developed, the plot flows perfectly and it shines a light on love, family, devotion and heartbreak. Everyone who enjoyed The Beekeeper of Aleppo will undoubtedly enjoy this too.

Nisha has spent the last few years making a living as a maid in Cyprus, far away from her homeland of Sri Lanka and the daughter she left behind. She spends her days cleaning for her employer, widowed optician Petra, and looking after Petra's daughter Aliki as if she were her own - parenting her own child over the internet at night.

Petra rents the apartment above her own to a man called Yiannis, unaware that he and Nisha have been in a relationship for the past two years - something she would definitely disapprove of. Yiannis loves Nisha dearly and want to marry her, but his profession as a poacher, trapping the tiny migrating songbirds as they fly over Cyprus on their way from Africa to Europe and selling them on the black market, is not something Nisha approves of.

One night Nisha disappears without trace. Yiannis is convinced he is to blame and does not know what to do with himself. Petra finds herself left in sole charge of her own daughter for the first time since her birth and is forced to connect with her child in a way she has been unable to do so before, haunted as she has been by the death of her beloved husband. She is mystified by the disappearance of Nisha, especially when she finds her precious belongings and passport left behind in her room. Where can she be?

When the police seem uninterested in looking for a lost immigrant, believing she has just run away, Petra and Yiannis find themselves working together to solve the mystery of Nisha's disappearance, and what they uncover has them worried. In the process, Petra finds herself looking at Nisha in a very different light, discovering details of her life that she never knew - or was ever interested in finding out about. She also comes to look anew at the many young immigrant women working around her in Cyprus - the women who go quietly under the radar, cooking, cleaning and caring for the children of their employers, without ever once being considered people with lives of their own, and sometimes being treated in the most dehumanising and abusive ways. Yiannis meanwhile, tries to extricate himself from the life of crime he has been caught up in, as a way to redeem himself in the eyes of Nisha, in the hope she will return to him soon.

Christy Lefteri has a way of writing the most beautiful stories that work their way under your skin and into your heart, before totally breaking you apart - and Songbirds, the much anticipated follow-up to the incredible The Beekeeper of Aleppo, is no exception.

Telling her story throught the eyes of Petra and Yiannis (with glimpses of someone much darker, in the form of lyrical prose about a enigmatic character whose part in the story we can only guess at, until the bitter truth of their identity becomes known), Lefteri deftly combines a mystery, a love story, and insight into the world of those in the background who are treated with contempt instead of compassion for the lives that are forced to lead - while cleverly working in threads about parenthood, coping with loss, redemption, and conservation at the same time - and she does it astoundingly well.

I am always impressed by the way Lefteri brings so much poetry and achingly beautiful symbolism into her stories, while forcing you to direct your eyes and thoughts to some very tangible and painful real world situations. Underlying every part of this tale, the phenomenal way she uses the motif of songbirds to represent freedom, and gold to express the concept of a spiritual dimension connecting all living things is superb, but there is no ignoring the blood she draws from the cutting message underpinning her gorgeous prose. The intention of this book is very clear: to raise the profile of the plight of immigrants who find themselves living sub-human lives to support the loved ones they have left behind - and there are many lessons to be learned from the way she paints them as just as human and worthy, with stories every bit as authentic, as those that employ them.

Yet again, Lefteri has left me broken and sobbing, but the experience has been one I will treasure for a long time to come. Songbirds is as captivating as is is conscious-pricking, as tender as it is traumatic, and as rewarding as it is raw. If you loved The Beekeeper of Aleppo, then you are in for a treat!