As Truly

Set in Cyprus, As Truly is a haunting and lyrical testament to human survival, profound personal loss and the indelible scars of civil war. At dawn on a July morning in 1974, Harita, Maro, and Yiannoula’s lives are shattered as Turkish forces invade Kyreneia, and their peaceful orchards are turned into battlefields. With children in their arms, the three sisters flee into a world filled with gunfire, burning earth and unanswered prayers. Thirty years later, Harita meets Sultana, a Turkish-Cypriot woman who also lost members of her family in the same conflict. In a moment that transcends history and politics, the two women embrace—bound by shared pain and the quiet resilience of those left behind. It is a symbolic and powerful gesture of humanity, where sorrow finds reflection in the eyes of the ‘other’, and healing begins in recognising each other’s grief. Told through vivid, heart-wrenching scenes, the novel follows the sisters as they search for safety, mourn their missing and confront the unthinkable: the return of their loved ones’ remains from shallow graves. As Truly is not just a story of war—it is a requiem for what was lost, and a quiet, powerful song for those who remember.