Birds Without Wings
Türkiye

Birds Without Wings

by Louis de Bernières

War & Conflict Historical Fiction Literary Fiction Romance 2004

Summary

In the small Anatolian village of Eskibahçe, Muslims and Christians have lived side by side for generations, sharing a language, traditions, friendships, and everyday life. At the heart of this close-knit community is the tender love between Philothei, a beautiful Greek Christian girl, and Ibrahim, a Muslim goatherd who has loved her since childhood. Their future seems possible—until the forces of history begin to tear their world apart.

As the Ottoman Empire collapses and modern Turkey emerges, the villagers are swept into the First World War, the rise of nationalism, and the brutal Greek-Turkish conflict. Through the voices of ordinary people, de Bernières creates an expansive portrait of a society destroyed by religious divisions, political ambition, and forced displacement. Both heartbreaking and darkly humorous, Birds Without Wings explores how people who once lived as neighbours can become enemies—and how love and humanity endure even amid extraordinary cruelty.

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Country
Türkiye
Asia
About the author
Louis de Bernières
Louis de Bernières

Louis de Bernières is an English novelist born in London in 1954. Before becoming a full-time writer, he worked as a teacher in Colombia, a mechanic, a gardener, and briefly trained as an army officer. His experiences in South America and admiration for Latin American writers, particularly Gabriel García Márquez, influenced his early novels and their blend of political satire, history, and elements of magical realism. De Bernières rose to international fame with Captain Corelli’s Mandolin (1994), which won the Commonwealth Writers’ Prize for Best Book. His other acclaimed works include Birds Without Wings (2004), a sweeping novel about the collapse of the Ottoman Empire, and The Dust That Falls from Dreams (2015). In 1993, he was selected by Granta magazine as one of the twenty Best of Young British Novelists.

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Details
Published
2004
Author
Louis de Bernières