The Turkish invasion of Cyprus is the turning point that shatters Famagusta’s image as a prosperous Mediterranean resort. In the novel’s historical backdrop, the invasion follows a Greek coup that plunges Cyprus into chaos; the city is shelled, and tens of thousands flee as soldiers advance.

Background in Famagusta

In 1972, Famagusta is presented as the island’s most desirable resort, flourishing under an appearance of good fortune. An ambitious couple open what is described as the island’s most spectacular hotel, where Greek and Turkish Cypriots work in harmony. The city’s prosperity, however, conceals mounting tension.

The neighbouring Georgious and Özkans are among the families who have moved to Famagusta to escape unrest and ethnic violence elsewhere on the island. Their presence links the resort’s apparent promise to the wider insecurity from which its residents have sought refuge. The calm of shared work and daily life therefore exists alongside a history of conflict and a future threat.

Invasion and Flight

A Greek coup plunges the island into chaos. Turkey invades, in the synopsis’s account, to protect the Turkish Cypriot minority, and Famagusta is shelled. As advancing soldiers approach, 40,000 people seize their most precious possessions and flee. The resort’s glow of good fortune gives way to mass displacement: the people who made the city a destination leave it behind.

The Abandoned City

After the flight, Famagusta is deserted except for two families. The Georgious and the Özkans, established there among many who had sought safety from earlier unrest, become the only families left in the city. Their continued presence supplies the novel with its central human focus amid the wider conflict.

The invasion thus marks both a physical emptying of Famagusta and a reversal of its promise. A place associated with spectacle, prosperity, and Greek-Turkish cooperation becomes a shelled city whose abandonment exposes how fragile that appearance of security was.