Elif Şafak Instagram – Silver Bestseller Award for The Island of Missing Trees. When I first started writing this novel, and I realised there was going to be a tree at its centre and the tree was going to talk, I was terrified. It was a big risk. If the idea of a “talking tree” did not work, the entire novel could collapse, but I wanted to take this literary risk because I kept hearing the voice of the fig tree inside my head and inside my heart, day and night, and I believed in her, and I wanted to honour the stories of nature, alongside the stories of human beings, both joyful and painful. So for me, this is not an award about “best selling”, it’s not about numbers. For me it primarily means that the voice of the fig tree touched the hearts of many others and for that I am deeply grateful. #theislandofmissingtrees #booksarethebestgifts #writersandpoets #womenwhowrite #literaryfiction #fictionwriters #booksbooksbooks #elifshafak #bookclubstagram #readinguk #readwithme #booksuggestions 📚📚📚 romanım #kayıpağaçlaradası İngiltere’de Gümüş Edebiyat Ödülüne layık görüldü, çok teşekkür ediyorum bilhassa okurlara