Even though it’s been nearly two years since I read Christy Lefteri’s award-winning second novel The Beekeeper of Aleppo, one of the things that has continued to stay with me whenever I think of that book is the affecting, haunting nature of the story. While I might not remember every detail of the plot, I do remember the gut-wrenching emotions that the story evoked. I was moved by Nuri’s and Afra’s heartrending story detailing their harrowing journey from war-torn Syria to Great Britain, trying their best to survive as refugees in a foreign and not necessarily welcoming country. Lefteri’s newest work, Songbirds, is written in a similar vein — a poignant, heartbreaking story that centers on foreign domestic workers on the Greek island of Cyprus. 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.

From the prize-winning author of The Beekeeper of Aleppo comes Songbirds, a stunning novel about the disappearance of a Sri Lankan domestic worker and how the most vulnerable people find their voices. When Nisha disappears, and both Petra and Yiannis notify authorities, her disappearance it completely dismissed. She's a migrant domestic worker from another country and as far as the authorities are concerned, she's "moved on". Nothing about her is considered, she's a nobody, there are so many more workers looking for jobs, who cares that one worker is gone now. She does not matter to those with the power to do anything about her disappearance.When Nisha suddenly goes missing, the police do nothing to find her. Petra and Yiannas are separately desperate to find out where she is. When Petra learns Yiannas is her fiance, they come together to search for her. EVA’S BIOGRAPHY: The biographical book Songbird, which sold 100,000 copies in its hardcover edition in the United Kingdom, is now available in the United States also. Songbirds by Christy Lefteri, another historical fiction novel, about the disappearance of a Sri Lankan nanny and how the most vulnerable people find their voices. From the best selling author of 'The Beekeeper of Aleppo'. This is the first book I have read by the author, and I must say being a historical fiction the writing is very smooth. 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 "maid" for a wealthy widow is the only way to earn enough to support her daughter, left behind to be raised by relatives. This story has it's beauty and it's message. The plight of the songbirds parallels the plight of the migrant domestic workers in many ways. I bring up the incredibly disturbing descriptions of brutality and destruction for those who have trouble reading such things, as I do.

The prose was moving, beautiful. Painful. I found myself getting teary-eyed over passages and heartbroken for an underrepresented population, misread, and stereotyped. I received this book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. I was looking forward to this novel, because I enjoyed the Beekeepers of Aleppo by the same author. Unfortunately this book disappointed me. It’s about the disappearance of a domestic worker, Nisha in Cyprus. The chapters alternate from the viewpoint of Petra , for whom Nisha worked for and Yiannis, with whom Nisha had a love affair. Ultimately a story about traps; bird traps, human traps, grief traps. On one level the story of a woman who goes missing, and the man and woman who search for her. Descending into the depths of this disappearance, we catch glimpses of the inter-connectedness of all; the life cycle of animals, the threads that connect all living life...or the beliefs that compartmentalize if we allow them to, a compartmentalization that allows mistreatment and dismissal. I loved this tender, moving story about the powerful chord that binds mothers to daughters, about those we fail to seeand protect.The humanity in Songbirds is compelling, tinged with sadness, delicately delivered with urgency. I finished this book and could not stopthinking about Nisha. It is stunning and beautiful, a magnificent achievement.” —AbiDaré, author of The Girl with the Louding VoiceIn this heartfelt novel by the author of The Beekeeper of Aleppo, a Sri Lankan domestic worker goes missing from her employer’s home in Cyprus, and the widowed homeowner herself sets out to find her after the police show no interest.” — The New York Times Nisha is also a widow and she leaves her home in Sri Lanka to look for work and send money home to her mother who is looking after her young daughter.