Opening a new world

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I was hooked into this book from the start, felt it lost its way a little in the middle before picking up again towards the end.
A beautifully written book, but with some clunky typos that I hope will be ironed out before publication.
The book follows the story of Nisha, a domestic worker from Sri Lanka working in Cyprus for Petra and her daughter Aliki. In order to work, Nisha had to leave her own daughter behind in Sri Lanka. The book tells the story of a mother’s sacrifice in order to keep her daughter safe back home.
She falls in love with her neighbour Yiannis in secret. Yiannis has his own past and things to hide.
When Nisha leaves the house one evening and never returns, the wheels are set in motion to reveal some difficult truths for all the characters. We learn there were many more layers to Nisha that ‘just a domestic worker’ but the police will not investigate her disappearance. Interestingly, we never hear the story directly from Nisha, but always told through the eyes of the other two central characters, highlighting the lack of voice for these women.
Set to the backdrop of the political issues facing domestic workers and a divided Cyprus. There are some beautiful metaphors of nature, songbirds and taking what is not yours to take. It is not quite a Beekeeper of Alleppo, but it certainly sits a beautiful piece of work in its own rights.