"Your childhood is your homeland."

"The Lighthouse Family" fills your heart and then breaks it into smithereens. The little boy uprooted from his homeland stays with you long after you close the book. The tall white lighthouse by the deep blue sea, a symbol of isolation and hope, stands tall from beginning to end.

Heavy with Anatolian history, the book tells the story of a family of six in the Turkish village of Sarpincik, uptooted from their homelands due to the Turkish-Greek ethno-political tensions and the Second World War. It is an incredibly intimate look into how intergenerational trauma caused by war shapes lives long after the whistles are blown. We follow a happy, carefree boy who ends up a despondent writer thousands of miles away, experiencing a life of death, longing, and nationalism along the way.

Sunel’s writing is deeply personal, almost like a memoir. It’s the kind of writing that pulls you in and makes you feel like you’re living the story alongside the characters. You feel their pain, their hope, and their struggles as if they were your own.

It's a highly recommended read for people who enjoy historical fiction. This book definitely deserves more attention than it gets.