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 neighbourhood--and to the darker side of a migrant's life, where impossible choices leave them vulnerable, captive, and worse.
I absolutely adored this book. I read it so quickly and I couldn’t put it down. It is based on a true story and the author dives into the injustices of workers. In this case, the employers and law enforcement choose not to listen to them. ‘Songbirds’ is a metaphor for the mass killing of songbirds which then link to migration workers because in a way they are being mass killed by their employers. The songbird killing is also shown through Yiannis as he trades endangered songbirds. Lefteri graphically describes the mistreatment of the animals and this is very upsetting.
The book is told through two different perspectives: Nisha’s husband Yiannis and her employer Petra. It was such a good idea for the book to be told through different POV’s as we get an insight into Nisha through different people.
This book is also extremely eye-opening and I learnt so much about migration whilst reading. At times it was very hard to read and very upsetting, but overall it is worth it as you learn more about their struggles and experiences. I never learnt about this at school and I think it would be very beneficial for GCSE or A-Level students.
I 100000% recommend this book, it is so beautifully written and very emotional.
I absolutely adored this book. I read it so quickly and I couldn’t put it down. It is based on a true story and the author dives into the injustices of workers. In this case, the employers and law enforcement choose not to listen to them. ‘Songbirds’ is a metaphor for the mass killing of songbirds which then link to migration workers because in a way they are being mass killed by their employers. The songbird killing is also shown through Yiannis as he trades endangered songbirds. Lefteri graphically describes the mistreatment of the animals and this is very upsetting.
The book is told through two different perspectives: Nisha’s husband Yiannis and her employer Petra. It was such a good idea for the book to be told through different POV’s as we get an insight into Nisha through different people.
This book is also extremely eye-opening and I learnt so much about migration whilst reading. At times it was very hard to read and very upsetting, but overall it is worth it as you learn more about their struggles and experiences. I never learnt about this at school and I think it would be very beneficial for GCSE or A-Level students.
I 100000% recommend this book, it is so beautifully written and very emotional.