Songbirds: The powerful, evocative novel from the author of The Beekeeper of Aleppo

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'I've never read anything quite like Songbirds - a beautifully crafted novel that sits at the intersection of race and class, that flags the frank truth of the life of migrant workers for whom a flight to freedom can become the most finely woven trap.' - Jodi Picoult, #1 NYT bestselling author of THE BOOK OF TWO WAYS

'It began with a crunch of leaves and earth. So early, so cold, the branches shone with ice. I'd returned to collect the songbirds. They are worth more than their weight in gold.'

Yiannis is a poacher, trapping the tiny protected songbirds that stop in Cyprus as they migrate each year from Africa to Europe, and selling them on the black market. He dreams of finding a new way of life, and of marrying Nisha, who works for Petra and her daughter Aliki. Nisha is raising Aliki, mothering her own child back in Sri Lanka by the screen of a phone.

When Nisha disappears, Yiannis is convinced he is responsible, paralysed by heartbreak and fear. Petra is forced to care for her child again, and when little Aliki insists that they find Nisha, she begins to see that Nisha hasn't simply run away, and that no one else will bother to look for her.

With infinite tenderness and skill, Christy Lefteri has crafted a powerful story about the unseen who walk among us, cleaning our homes and caring for our children - what it is to migrate in search of freedom, only to find yourself trapped. Songbirds is a triumphant exploration of loss, the strength of the human spirit and the unbreakable bonds of courage, and of love.

'Christy Lefteri has crafted a beautiful novel, intelligent, thoughtful, and relevant. I'm recommending this book to everyone I care about' - Benjamin Zephaniah on The Beekeeper of Aleppo

'The Beekeeper of Aleppo is a story of loss, love, resilience and hope. In the same school as The Tattooist of Auschwitz and The Kite Runner, it's impossible not to be moved by Lefteri's plea for humanity and perhaps inspired too' - Observer, on The Beekeeper of Aleppo

'Courageous, proactive, haunting' - Heather Morris, on The Beekeeper of Aleppo

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Author Bio

Brought up in London, Christy Lefteri is the child of Cypriot refugees. She is a lecturer in creative writing at Brunel University. Her previous novel, The Beekeeper of Aleppo, is an international bestseller, selling over half a million copies worldwide.