A Watermelon, a Fish and a Bible: A heartwarming tale of love amid war

by Christy Lefteri, Quercus

It is July 1974 and on a bright, sunny morning, the Turkish army has invaded the town of Kyrenia in Cyprus. For many people, this means an end to their ordinary lives. But for some, it is a chance to begin living again. For one young woman, brought up without her mother and shunned by the community, the invasion brings an opportunity to, at long last, share her side of the story. To an invading soldier, it becomes a search for his one true love, lost years ago. And for a man far from the action, it brings memories of the past flooding into his mind – a woman, a child and a secret never told. A Watermelon, A Fish and a Bible is a breathtaking novel about love, loss, identity and what family really means.

Genres: Fiction, Historical Fiction, Book Club, War, Audiobook, Historical, Novels

305 pages, Kindle Edition

First published March 1, 2010

About the author

Christy Lefteri was born in London in 1980 to Greek Cypriot parents who moved to London in 1974. She completed a degree in English and a Masters in creative writing at Brunel University. She taught English to foreign students and then became a secondary school teacher before leaving to pursue a PhD and to write. She is also studying to become a psychotherapist.

Reviews

[Ann Tonks · Rating 4 out of 5]

A completely "fictional" story given the number of coincidences that happen but a beautifully written book that captures both the insularity of a colonised people and the hideousness of war. The first fiction I have read about the Greek/Turkish war in Cyprus.

[Anna Tan · Rating 4 out of 5]

I'm fighting the urge to write only complimentary things because Lefteri is my tutor lol.

Again, I feel that the reading of this book was slightly impacted by the fact that I was reading it in spurts, mainly while on various trains, and whilst really sleepy. Still, this goes to show that it wasn't particularly exciting to me, because I've powered through books in the middle of the night whilst dead-tired because I really wanted to know what happens next. At any rate, I liked it enough despite the fact that it's historical fiction and not fantasy, so *shrug*. Thinking it over, I'm not too sure if the 4-star is impacted by bias. Now that I'm writing the review, I'm wavering down to about a 3-star, so I'd say it's a tentative 3.5-star book, just because I'm not sure.

The best bits of this book are the beginning and the end. It starts off with this really fairy-tale like sequence, full of symbolism. It's beautiful, and sad, setting you up to journey through war-torn Cyprus in 1974. Lefteri moves you through the capture of Kyrenia through several viewpoints: Maroulla's childish innocence, Adem Berker's loss and guilt, Richard's longing, Commander Serkan Demir's anger and hatred, Koki's fear. Sometimes it's too much--the core of this story feels like Koki's, the way she's caught between Greeks and Turks, an outcast to both groups as much as she is deeply tied to both. I loved the way Adem's, Richard's and Koki's stories weaved in and out of each other, I didn't care so much about Serkan (Lefteri admitted that he was a rather two-dimensional character without an arc) or what his whole confusing interaction with the baby was about, and whilst I loved the thread of the rose and the petals and the innocent fairy tale of Maroulla that both starts and ends the novel, she wasn't ultimately very important to the story. Whilst she acted as a sort-of impetus for Koki to keep moving, keep trying to survive, I kind of feel that she could have been replaced by anything (or anyone) else.

The middle dragged a little as events played out over the five days. There's an immersion in memories of the past, both a sense of longing for what was as well as a lingering regret over how things played out over the years. Ostracism of the Other seems to be a key theme which recurs over and over again, both on a personal and a national level, with the microaggressions of the Greek-Cypriots against Adem and Koki seemingly representative the aggressions of the Greek-Cypriots towards the Turkish-Cypriots and the British in their midst on a national level. In retaliation, the Turkish soldiers rape the women and murder the men on a macro scale of revenge, even though these specific women have done nothing to them personally.

The ending (which I can't say too much of because of spoilers? maybe?) is a beautiful execution of the classic race against time, leaving you braced in your seat with bated breath, hoping that yes, they will meet, yes, things will work out in the end, no, no, please don't miss each other.

Yes, so I was hooked by the beginning, got slightly bored by the middle and then loved the ending, so overall, I'm not very sure how much I actually liked it.

[Maria Bikaki · Rating 1 out of 5]

Αν το κάνε σίριαλ ο Μανούσος Μανουσάκης κατά πάσα πιθανότητα θα τρέλαινε τα μηχανάκια της τηλεθέασης λόγω θεματικής. Εγώ πάντως δε θα το βλεπα :p Πολύ βαρετό δυσκολευτηκα να το τελειωσω και με αρκετά αναπάντητα ερωτήματα στο τέλος.

[Rachel Kotsapas · Rating 2 out of 5]

I loved the story in this book and being married to a Cypriot refugee find the story to be close to my heart.
It was however one of the hardest books I have ever read.
I didn't mind the story being written in the view point of all the different characters but the descriptive writing was weird and annoying.I ended up skim reading it from about half way through just so I could find out what happened without having to read the unnecessary vivid descriptions.

[Karen · Rating 5 out of 5]

A harrowing and gut wrenching historical novel. This is a beautifully written story about the trials and horrors that a group of Cypriot women faced when they were taken prisoner during the 1974 Turkish invasion of Cyprus. The characters are believable and develop through the course of the novel. It is brutal and not for the feint-hearted. I hope Christy Lefteri brings us another novel soon!

[Brittany (whatbritreads) · Rating 4 out of 5]

Christy Lefteri really knows how to write a book that will tug on your heart strings. She has an amazing way of coupling fiction with real and relevant social commentary on the state of the world, or the state the world has previously been in.

Her writing is especially beautiful in this one, it might be my second favourite after The Beekeeper of Aleppo. It’s a real demonstration of pure talent when a book can make me care and feel a great depth of emotion only a few pages in but this managed to do just that. It was ridiculously heartbreaking right from the first couple of chapters right through to the end. It was so heavy but delicately handled. For such a dense book it felt effortless to get lost in, the storytelling was so immersive I couldn’t help but keep turning the pages. I devoured this over a few hours in a single sitting.

This story, despite being so sad, was very charming. The characters were so bold and realistic, it almost felt like reading a report of real events. I loved how different they all were and this ended up being a very rare occasion in which I actually cared about every single perspective being offered to me. They were all fascinating and came together to tie the story up nicely. Nicely definitely not being a literal description of how it plays out. This is still, at the end of the day, a story about the devastating impacts of war and corrupt politics. It did these things the utmost justice in my opinion, accurately and beautifully handled.

My main qualm with this book was the odd sections of storytelling that felt like infodumping, it was a completely unexpected way of doing things that I didn’t like or see the need for. Characters on multiple occasions just randomly started telling their entire life stories over several pages without pause out loud to other characters. It just felt really unnatural and I wish we could have learnt about them and their lives in a way that felt less rushed and forced. It took me out of it for a few short lapses.

Overall I really enjoyed this book. If you’re looking for something brutally honest and sad, this is the one. The ending of this actually physically made my heart drop and I felt sick at what I read. I’ve never had such a visceral physical response to reading something before this.

[Carol]

It's July 1974 and on a bright, sunny morning, the Turkish army has invaded the town of Kyrenia in Cyprus. For many people, this means an end to life as they know it. But for some, it is a chance to begin living again.
I should by now, know better than to choose a book just because it fits a challenge. Evidently, I am a S --L- O - W learner, or a glutton for punishment. I really didn't care for any of the book...nada, zero, zip! It was no fault of the author. It was the...well I really don't know... just couldn't get into the whole thing.

The best part of the story is the very beginning and the end. It starts off with an almost fairy-tale like sequence, full of symbolism. It's beautiful, and sad, setting the reader for a journey through war-torn Cyprus in 1974. The author moves you along through the capture of Kyrenia through several different viewpoints: Maroulla's, with childish innocence, Adem Berker's with his loss and guilt, Richard's with longing, Commander Serkan Demir's with anger and hatred, Koki's with fear. By this time, it was just all too much. I'm not sure but I would say that the core of the story was Koki's, the way she was caught between the Greeks and the Turks, but an outcast to both groups and her deep ties to both.

The middle dragged even more with the events playing out over five days. There's an immersion in memories of the past, both a sense of longing for what was as well as a lingering regret over how things have played out over the years. Everybody, on all sides, were against each other, but I guess this is the norm in most wars. In retaliation, the Turkish soldiers rape the women and murder the men on a massive scale of revenge. It didn't matter that these specific women had done nothing to them personally. Again, I guess another fact of war. The story seemed to meander and lost intensity on numerous occasions and there was a lot of repetition, particularly in the many descriptive parts. The ending was predictable. I suppose it was a good piece of historical fiction, as well as a reminder about the fragility of peace in some parts of our world.

[Costantia · Rating 3 out of 5]

interesting & emotional in its familiarity. prose tries hard to be a thing of literary beauty but does not always succeed.

[Kath B · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is the second novel i've read by this author who is able to describe so well the plight of refugees. In this case, the story is about Greek Cypriots fleeing Northern Cyprus for Southern Cyprus and the UK following the invasion of Northern Cyprus by Turkey in 1974.

The treatment of civilians, including women and children, is shown in all its brutality as is the bravery of the women surviving an attack on their community and helping each other to recover. Also well written are the back stories of the two key characters, Koki and Adem and their love story against all the odds is a welcome contrast to the horrors of the war scenes.

Despite all the positives mentioned above, this book is nowhere near as good as The Beekeeper of Aleppo, in my opinion. The story meandered and lost its intensity on numerous occasions and there was a lot of repetition, particularly in the descriptive parts. The ending was also a little predictable. A good piece of historical fiction, nevertheless, and a reminder about the fragility of peace in some parts of the world.

[Rita · Rating 2 out of 5]

This is the June book for The Walk Cafe Book Club.

I gave up at page 344 so I read quite a lot of it. It was too slow and boring. This is an event that the author felt quite strongly about but there were endless descriptions of nothing. A trip to cafe took about 3 pages. If I was choosing a book I wouldn't have picked this.

[Bethany Russell · Rating 4 out of 5]

Another sad commentary on the inhumanities of war and the resulting refugees. Generational love stories unfold tragically. This book is filled with detailed description of Cyprus, the people, smells, sounds and taste. Ouzo and coffee abounds and yet hope for new beginnings too. Start is a little confusing and stilted but worth the time.

[Lauren · Rating 4 out of 5]

A beautifully written story, tugs on the heart strings. Was a bit slow to get going, but was a worthy read

[Christy Lawrence · Rating 4 out of 5]

Not an easy read at all, but beautifully put together. Will stay with me for a very long time.

‘You all know that life in the town is empty without the stories. The stories bubble in the pan of beans, rise in the steam of coffee, splatter from the washing, are woven into the tapestries of silk.’

[Deirdre Yates · Rating 2 out of 5]

Meandering tale which never engaged me.

[Val · Rating 4 out of 5]

On 15 July 1974 a coup d'état on the island of Cyprus, sponsored or ordered by the Greek military junta, overthrew the Cypriot president, Archbishop Makarios III. On 20 July 1974 Turkey replied by invading Cyprus and occupying the northern part of the island. There was heavy fighting.
Archbishop Makarios had been something of a thorn in the side of the British in Cyprus in former years, but he was primarily a Cypriot nationalist, not a proponent of Enosis, the union of Cyprus with Greece. The 1974 war was bad for both Greek and Turkish Cypriots and few in either community had wanted it.
The book (or part of it) is set during the Turkish invasion of northern Cyprus which eventually led to the island being partitioned. Many Greek Cypriots fled and the title is the only three things one couple take from their house when they leave (they were about to cook). I think it is a symbol of the panic and chaos of the time.
The story is told from the point of view of three individuals, a Greek Cypriot woman with red hair, a Turkish Cypriot man now in the invading Turkish army and an Englishman formerly an RAF pilot stationed in Cyprus. These three characters are connected and we learn how through their memories and them telling their stories to others. All three are more integrated than was usual for their respective communities and have had love affair which crossed racial boundaries.
The pace of the story is slow, with a lot of description and symbolism. This works well on the whole and brings the smells, sights and tastes of the island to life. Some of the flashbacks are a little clumsy, as the author has to invent interruptions so that only a little of the story is told at a time.
The author does not shy away from showing the horrors of war or of community disapproval of inter-racial relationships, but most of the worst horrors take place offstage. This is an effective way of showing them without dwelling on them and of giving them impact. The focus is on the island and its people, and on living and loving through difficult circumstances. The message of that book is essentially that if there was more friendliness and integration between the different ethnic communities and less intolerance and strife, then everything in Aphrodite's garden would be lovely. This is trite, but it is also true, and the author puts across that message effectively by telling the story from each community.
This is not a five star book, but it comes very close at times.

[Kyriakos Sorokkou]

Ένας μήνας και μια βδομάδα διαβάζοντας κυπριακή λογοτεχνία, σήμερα ήρθε στο τέλος του με το βιβλίο της Κρίστυ Λευτέρη Οκτώ ημέρες και μια Κυριακή, ένα γλυκόπικρο βιβλίο, μια θλιβερά συγκινητική ιστορία που ξετυλίγεται μεταξύ 20ης-28ης Ιουλίου 1974. Και τώρα πάμε σε κάποια σημεία που θέλω να θίξω:
1) Το βιβλίο είναι μια ελληνική μετάφραση από τα αγγλικά, το οποίο φαντάζομαι μεταφράστηκε από Ελλαδίτισσα και όχι από Ελληνοκύπρια μεταφράστρια. Γι' αυτό μερικές κυπριακές λέξεις είναι γραμμένες λάθος. όπως Λατσί όχι Λακκί, κτλ, κάποια αυτονόητα πράγματα για ένα Κύπριο εξηγούνται ξανά και ξανά. ΕΟΚΑ (η οργάνωση που. . . ), αυγολέμονη (σούπα με αυγό και λεμόνι), ζελατίνα ((το σωστό είναι ζαλατίνα) χοιρινό σε. . .), τα βουνά του Τροόδους. Σε μένα φάνηκε κάπως απόμακρο, όχι και τόσο οικείο, σαν να μιλούσε περισσότερο στους μη-κύπριους αλλά αυτό δεν ήταν και τόσο σοβαρό στην τελική.
2) Ένα βιβλίο όπου γνωρίζεις καλούς Τούρκους, κακούς Έλληνες, ένα βιβλίο όπου τίποτε δεν είναι άσπρο-μαύρο. Πολλοί από τους Ελληνοκύπριους χαρακτήρες μου φάνηκαν εχθρικοί, προκατειλημένοι, πρωτόγονοι (τολμώ να πω), και κάποιες φορές εκνευριστικοί. Μπορώ να το δικαιολογήσω αυτό μόνο στο ότι εκείνες οι μέρες ήταν πολύ άσχημες και τα συναισθήματα όσων το έζησαν, έντονα. Η υποδοχή των πρώτων προσφύγων στα ελεύθερα εδάφη ήταν ψυχρή· μέχρι τώρα ήξερα ότι τους υποδέχτηκαν με ανοιχτές αγκάλες.
3) Δεν είχε πολλούς διαλόγους το βιβλίο και αυτό ξένισε πολλούς, όχι εμένα. Θα ξένισε λογικά αυτούς που συνηθίζουν να διαβάζουν άρλεκιν ή πενήντα αποχρώσεις του γκρι. Δεν ήταν καθόλου δύσκολο. Υπήρχαν όμως οι τετριμμέννες παρομοιώσεις, που κάπως με κούρασαν· δεν χρειάζεται παρομοίωση σε κάθε παράγραφο.
4) Το βιβλίο αφήνει ανοικτά πολλά ερωτηματικά. Την τύχη του Αντέμ, την νέα ζωή της Κόκκης και της Μαρούλας, την τύχη της γριάς Μαρίας και άλλων. Καλό είναι να σε αφήνει όμως να σκεφτείς και λίγο μόνος σου. Συνολικά πολύ ωραίο και συγκινητικό βιβλίο όχι τέλειο, γι' αυτό και τα 4 αστέρια.

[Matt Dawson · Rating 5 out of 5]

Objectively speaking, this is not the greatest book in the world. But when you read about places you know and events talked about by your family, it makes it difficult to read a book objectively. I would spend my summers growing up in Kyrenia, surrounded by my Cypriot family and Lefteri describes the town with such poetry that it brought a tear to my eye. As with any Cypriot family, the events of the Turkish invasion of 1974 have always hang over our heads, and despite being from the other side of the coin, it was interesting to see the events told from a Greek perspective. But rather than using this book's message to increase division, this story should be read by anyone invested in the past, present and future of Cyprus to know that both Greek and Turkish Cypriots have a voice, there is no right or wrong side and that difficulties can be surpassed by unification.

[Julie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Gripping fictional account based on the author's family memories of the 1974 troubles in Cyprus. It is haunting, both in terms of its lyrical prose but also because of the repercussions of the event as told from both sides and from that an English bystander. I challenge anyone to read this book and not empathise at some point with the characters whose lives are changed forever. It is the kind of book that doesn't exactly make enjoyable reading as the subject matter is too emotive yet it's a book you won't forget and it will leave you with a tear in your eyes.

[Angie · Rating 3 out of 5]

Η ιστορία ήταν καλή. Μου άρεσε η εναλλαγή διήγησης για κάθε πρόσωπο. Τολμώ να πω πως με κούρασε αρκετά καθώς είχε παραγράφους ολόκληρες με περιττές αναφορές με ασήμαντα στοιχεία. Επίσης, κρίμα που δεν μαθαίνουμε για τον Αντέμ στο τέλος. Καταλαβαίνω πως κάποια βιβλία σε βάζουν σε ένα τρυπάκι σκέψης για να φανταστείς εσύ το τέλος, αλλά σε αυτο το βιβλίο θα προτιμούσα να μάθαινα ή να προσδιοριζόταν στο περίπου η καταληξή του.

[Rinsfin · Rating 2 out of 5]

I wanted to like this book as its historical setting has always interested me but unfortunately I found it slow and laboured. The pace kept stalling and I could not get into its characters- they felt distant and one- dimensional. Not what I wanted it to be!

[Deborah Chappell · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book was very hard to read, I had to force myself to continue. Over half-way thru it, it started to get interesting. The constant change of perspective was confusing. I must admit, it was very informative, as I knew nothing about the conflict in Cyprus.

[Debi Lodge · Rating 2 out of 5]

Just dreadful. The author needs to get some mentoring to put her ideas into readable form

[Aileen Duffy · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 really. Love this author but didn’t enjoy as much as Beekeeper of Aleppo

[Emma · Rating 3 out of 5]

Christy Lefteri has certainly given me food for thought from her two books. They’re not enjoyable reading material per se but she demonstrates the futility of war and how even now wars are based on differing belief systems; no different to the crusades hundreds of years ago. Still we have not moved on enough to prevent acts of terror and war destroying lives of innocent civilians.

I often found I had to take a glance back to pick up the thread with different characters but on the whole they blended together well to form a web of relationships, and victims and perpetrators alike suffered from the horrors of the war in Cyprus.

Christy has a very poetic form of writing with lots of personification, vivid imagery and alliteration used to excellent effect.
There is a lot of sadness, fear and violent acts in her writing but they are necessary to describe how ugly coups, wars and invasions are.
She makes the reader walk in the shoes of victims and perhaps view those seeking asylum in a different way as their journeys are portrayed with great feeling.

I wouldn’t actively seek out further books as they don’t really fall into my preferred genres but they are informative, somewhat disturbing and structured with great research, thought and some personal knowledge.
I wouldn’t give this book 4 stars purely because it didn’t make me want to keep picking it up until I was nearly at the end, but this is a definite 3.5 star because of the evocative writing skill Christy Lefteri possesses.

[Cecilia Zammit · Rating 4 out of 5]

Somewhere between a 3 and a 4!

There were some slower bits (and moments of confusion with the names, but that’s probably more a me problem) but overall I enjoyed reading this book!
I enjoyed the weaving of different perspectives, and also find the historical setting fascinating (albeit horribly sad, as is the case with most historical fiction novels set in times of war)

[Nilo0 · Rating 3 out of 5]

روند کتاب کند بود و در عین اینکه موضوع تازه و جدیدی داشت، احساساتم رو درگیر نکرد.
کتاب درباره اختلافات داخلی قبرسی‌های ترک‌تبار و یونانی‌تباره که منجر به جنگ داخلی شده و عده‌ای مجبور به ترک قبرس شده‌ن.
هم صحنه‌های درگیری و کشته شدن داشت هم مهاجرت و رفتن به بریتانیا.
یه بخشی از داستان هم از زبون ریچارد در بریتانیا بود که گذشته‌ش به قبرس مرتبط بود.
موضوع خوبی داشت اما انتظار داشتم بیشتر احساساتم رو برانگیزه. اما ارتباط بین گذشته و حال و شخصیت‌ها جالب و قشنگ بود.

[Kirsty Shanks · Rating 4 out of 5]

I loved the history and how this book came together in the end, all the loose ends join up but it didn’t grip me, although that’s probably my fault.

[MeggieO · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wonderfully heart wrenching story of love, loss, guilt all set during the invasion of Cyprus 1974
Loved it

[Liz Miller · Rating 2 out of 5]

Such a disappointment. A much earlier offering than the bee keeper of Aleppo and the content and style are very basic. Predictable, little character development and too much flowery description. Not my cup of tea I’m afraid

[Nancy Barber · Rating 5 out of 5]

Another book written by one of my favorite authors. Her way with words is outstanding and she paints a beautiful picture of not only the setting but the characters and their emotions.