Book: Songbirds
Author: Christy Lefteri
Pages: 369
Publisher: Manila Press
Price: Rs. 399
Nisha is a domestic worker who moved miles from her home in Sri Lanka to Cyprus, as she had no other means to provide for her daughter. For years now, her only means of communication with her daughter is a mobile phone. One day, Nisha disappears. Being a domestic worker, the police hardly cares about her disappearance, and does nothing to find her. The only people who care are Petra and Yiannis. The former is Nisha’s employer, and the latter, Nisha’s lover, who makes a living by hunting songbirds.
Christy Lefteri’s Songbirds is alternatively narrated by Petra and Yiannis, as they struggle to find Nisha and understand what happened to her. As the story unfolds, the characters, especially Petra, learn more about Nisha, and the life of migrant domestic workers in Cyprus. Throughout the book, we also get a glimpse into the culture of the island, and the many beautiful birds and animals that inhabit it – this is something I really enjoyed discovering as I knew little to nothing about Cyprus.
The book had me hooked from the beginning. Lefteri has a very simple style of writing and she crafts a compelling narrative that keeps you turning the pages. Although the story felt a bit monotonous somewhere in the middle, it picked up soon after.
The book is influenced by real-life incidents in Cyprus and explores the horrors of systemic racism through the stories of migrant women domestic workers. It is at once a story of the plight of these workers as well as the ways in which we can get trapped in our own prejudices and conditioning. How much ever educated or woke we think we are, we all have certain prejudices and are conditioned to see certain things in a certain way. In that sense, the book is a great eye-opener and urges people to learn and unlearn, and to be kinder to everyone, both humans (irrespective of their religion, status, class, or creed) and animals alike.
To sum it up, Songbirds is an important, important read that addresses some very significant issues. I highly recommend it.
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PS: I received a copy of this book from the publisher in exchange for an honest and unbiased review.
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