Songbirds

This remarkable book about the disappearance of a Sri Lankan nanny and how the most vulnerable individuals discover their voices comes from the prize-winning author of The Beekeeper of Aleppo.

There was a crunch of earth and leaves first. The ice glistened on the branches, so chilly and early. I had come back to get the songbirds. They are more valuable than gold that weighs them down.

Yiannis is a poacher who catches and sells on the illicit market the small, protected songbirds that yearly pause in Cyprus during their migration from Africa to Europe. In his dreams, he would meet Nisha, who is employed as a nanny and maid on the island after leaving her home country of Sri Lanka in an attempt to make ends meet for her daughter, who was abandoned and fostered by relatives.

However, Nisha has disappeared; one evening, she leaves on an unexplained errand and never returns. Her employer, Petra, looks into her disappearance after the police dismiss it as the story of another fugitive domestic helper.

As Petra pieces together Nisha's final days in Cyprus, she encounters Nisha's friends—other maids in the community—and learns about the darker side of migrant life, where unfavorable decisions leave people defenseless, imprisoned, and worse.

Based on the actual case of domestic servants going missing in Cyprus, Christy Lefteri has written a moving and incredibly sympathetic account of the real-life situations behind the news headlines. In Songbirds, women rediscover their lost voices and a triumphant tale of the struggle for justice and truth are told with unending tenderness and artistry.