Content Warning: This section contains mentions and descriptions of war and violence, substance abuse, mental illness, and suicide.



Told from the perspective of the fig tree, the prologue describes the island of Cyprus, which the fig tree left many years ago, hidden in a suitcase headed for England. The tree recalls the conflict between the Greeks and the Turks that split Cyprus’s capital, Nicosia, into two. However, this border cannot prevent birds from flying across it, and the tree recalls one particular hill in Nicosia where “birds of all plumages come to forage and feed” (4). The hill houses a well, and the glint of an antique, gold pocket watch is sometimes visible in its depths. The watch is worn by one of two men whose corpses are hidden in the well, thrown in after they were murdered. It is inscribed with lines from a poem, along with the initials “Y & Y” (4).

In the late 2010s, 16-year-old Ada Kazantzakis attends the last class of the school year before the Christmas break is to begin. She is distracted by the worsening weather visible through the classroom window; there is a storm predicted to hit England over the next few days.