From the internationally bestselling author of The Island comes a
stirring novel about loyalty, love, and resilience in the face of
tremendous upheaval--a saga of survival set during the 1974 Cypriot coup
d'état that tells the intersecting stories of three families whose lives
are decimated when brewing ethnic tensions erupt into conflict.
Summer 1972--Famagusta is Cyprus's most glamorous city and the most
desirable tourist destination in the Mediterranean, and the Papacostas
are right at the center of it. Aphroditi and her husband Savvas own The
Sunrise, a wildly successful new luxury hotel. Frequented by only the
very wealthiest of Europe's elite, The Sunrise--especially its alluring
nightclub--quickly becomes the place to see and be seen. Yet beneath
the veneer of tranquil opulence simmers mounting hostility between the
Greeks and the Turks. Years of unrest and ethnic violence come to a head
when, in 1974, Greece's coup d'état provokes a Turkish attack on
beautiful Famagusta.
The fallout sends the island's inhabitants spiraling into fear and
chaos, and the Papacostas join an exodus of people who must abandon
their idyllic lives in Famagusta and flee to refugee camps. In the end,
only two families remain in the decimated city: the Özkans and the
Georgious. One is Turkish Cypriot, the other Greek Cypriot and the
tension between them is palpable. But with resources scarce and the
Turkish militia looming large, both families must take shelter in the
deserted hotel as they battle illness, hunger, fear, and their own
prejudices while struggling to stay alive.
Juxtaposing a powerful narrative of war against the glittering affluence
of the 1970s Mediterranean coast, The Sunrise is a moving story about
the measures we take to protect what we love.
