Willow Tree and Olive Irini, Savvides

A Greek Cypriot family is torn apart by war, forced to flee their village in 1974 when Turkish forces invade. Irini Savvides weaves a multigenerational story of displacement, memory, and the ache of a homeland lost. This is historical fiction rooted in lived experience — Savvides herself is the daughter of Cypriot refugees, and her prose carries the weight of inherited trauma. The willow tree and olive become symbols of rootedness and survival, anchoring a narrative that moves between Cyprus and Australia, between what was and what remains. It's quiet, intimate, and devastating in the way family sagas often are when they hold entire worlds within them. For readers who loved The Island by Victoria Hislop or anyone drawn to stories of migration, identity, and the long shadow of conflict.