Two teenagers, a Greek Cypriot and a Turkish Cypriot, meet at a taverna - the only place that Kostas and Defne can meet in secret. The fig tree witnesses their hushed, happy meetings; their silent, surreptitious departures. Decades later, Kostas returns looking for Defne. The two lovers return to the taverna to take a clipping from the fig tree and smuggle it into their suitcase, bound for London. Years later, the fig tree in the garden is their daughter Ada's only knowledge of a home she has never visited, as she seeks to untangle years of secrets and silence, and find her place in the world.