

The disappearance of a Sri Lankan nanny from her new life in Nicosia is the catalyst for an unexpected, moving journey through hidden lives and layered secrets in a mesmerising novel that puts real faces to the immigrant experience, from the author of The Beekeeper of Aleppo.
Signed Edition
A standard edition is available here.
She walks unseen through our world. Cares for our children, cleans our homes. She has a story to tell. Will you listen?
Nisha has crossed oceans to give her child a future. By day she cares for Petra's daughter; at night she mothers her own little girl by the light of a phone. Nisha's lover, Yiannis, is a poacher, hunting the tiny songbirds on their way to Africa each winter. His dreams of a new life, and of marrying Nisha, are shattered when she vanishes. No one cares about the disappearance of a domestic worker, except Petra and Yiannis. As they set out to search for her, they realise how little they know about Nisha. What they uncover will change them all.
Publisher: Manilla
ISBN: 9781786581259
Weight: 611 g
Dimensions: 240 x 162 x 35 mm
MEDIA REVIEWS
'Christy Lefteri is a courageous, provocative, haunting writer. Songbirds is a beautiful novel. It will break your heart and open your eyes.' - Heather Morris, author of The Tattooist of Auschwitz
'I've never read anything quite like Songbirds - a beautifully crafted novel that sits at the intersection of race and class.' - Jodi Picoult, bestselling author of Small Great Things
'Christy Lefteri's painfully beautiful story about a voiceless immigrant, Nisha, whose selfless courage touches the lives of those around her, moved me from the first page to the last. This thought-provoking novel of love loss and redemption is thoroughly sublime.' - Caroline Montague
'Lefteri is an astonishing weaver of stories that speak to the world with compassion. She is imaginatively daring as she is socially responsible in a compelling narrative from start to end and that kept me on the edge.' - Daljit Nagra
'Like the vulnerable songbirds trapped in mist nets, Lefteri's characters - women who leave foreign lands to work abroad and send money back home - broke my heart and kept me turning the pages of her gorgeous novel well into the night.' - Alka Joshi, NYT-bestselling author of The Henna Artist and The Secret Keeper of Jaipur
'Christy Lefteri has crafted a beautiful novel, intelligent, thoughtful, and relevant. I'm recommending this book to everyone I care about. So, I'm recommending this book to you.' - 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.' - The Observer, on The Beekeeper of Aleppo
'A hugely important novel for our times, this is a beautifully written and poignant tale of the best and worst of humanity.' - The Sun, on The Beekeeper of Aleppo
'Powerful, thought-provoking and beautifully crafted . . . unforgettable.' - Choice Magazine, on The Beekeeper of Aleppo
'Courageous, proactive, haunting.' - Heather Morris, on The Beekeeper of Aleppo
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“Voices of songbirds.”
On the face of it, this is a mystery story about the disappearance of a Sri Lankan nanny (Nisha) in Cyprus told through her boyfriend (Yiannis) and employer’s eyes (Petra). But as the story develops we get to... More

“Beautifully written story of love and loss set in Cyprus”
I've not read the author's previous novel, the best-selling The Beekeeper of Aleppo, but having finished Songbirds I can say it is definitely going to be added to my wishlist.
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“Beautiful Story”
I was really looking forward to delving into this book. It had been a little out of my comfort zone but I am so glad I stepped out of it to read this beautiful story about these amazing people who are so different yet... More
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