Songbirds by Christy Lefteri

Songbirds
☆☆☆☆
.ePUB, 273 pages
Expected Publication: August 3rd 2021 by Random House Publishing Group - Ballantine

About the Book:
Living on the island of Cyprus, Nisha is far from her native Sri Lanka. Though she longs to return home, she knows that working as a nanny and maid for a wealthy widow is the only way to earn enough to support her daughter, left behind to be raised by relatives. 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 illegal market. He dreams of finding a new way of life, and of marrying Nisha. But one night, Nisha makes dinner, an aromatic dahl curry, for the family who pays her: Petra and her daughter Aliki. Then, after she cleans the kitchen and tucks Aliki into bed, Nisha goes out on a mysterious errand, and vanishes. When the police refuse to pursue the case, Petra takes on the investigation herself, a path that leads her to Nisha’s friends—other workers in the neighborhood—and to the darker side of a migrant’s life, where impossible choices leave them vulnerable, captive, and worse.

My Review:
What a heartbreakingly, poetic book. This is a novel of the classes and how we treat missing persons differently by their race, income and standing. There are a lot of themes to this story as well as a lot of metaphors. I think what I liked most was the fact that the author based this on the real life disappearances of housekeepers in Cyprus. I don't have the talent for words to explain how wonderfully written this novel is. The misery of domestics is portrayed on every page and I felt that I got to know a lot of the characters. I was so sad when I had finished the book and look forward to reading more of Ms. Lefteri's work because this was a really powerful story, beautifully written with with well-drawn characters. Highly recommended.

Disclosure:
Thank you NetGalley, Christy Lefteri and Random House Publishing Group - Ballantine for the opportunity to read this book in exchange for an impartial review; all opinions are my own.

#Songbirds #NetGalley

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