The Sunrise: A Novel

Summary

Cyprus, 1972. Famagusta is the island nation's most glamorous city, and The Sunrise is its most glamorous new hotel. Aphriditi Papacostas and her husband Savvas quickly turned their new venture into the place for Europe's elite to be seen. Yet beneath the veneer of Mediterranen opulence, mounting hostility simmers between the Greeks and Turks.

Years of unrest and ethnic violence come to a head in 1974, when 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 fleeing 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.