Azra never imagined what the Aegean Sea would bring to the Mossy Village. Born in this peculiar place, where time has stood still and magical black seaweed grows in the shallows and entangles the unwary, Azra watches as the waves deliver mysterious treasures from faraway lands.

When the waters of her home recede and then, at last, vanish, Azra embarks on a quest. She encounters magical feathers, a phantom sailor, and a fabled Pearl Seller as she seeks to confront the famed witch Lilith and bring the waters back. As she tries to restore the sea, she begins to connect with her people's collective unconscious.

The Ashes of the Forest is a lyrical exploration of loss, remembrance, and the landscapes that shape who we become. The novel weaves together threads of traditional Turkish folklore with allegories for the psychological journey of the self and the destabilizing social effects of climate change. Echoing Orhan Pamuk's, "When the Bosphorus Dries Up" from The Black Book, Güzide Ertürk explores what happens when the sea withdraws from the shores of Mossy Village. Reimagining myth through the lens of magical realism, in the haunting vein of Cristina Rivera Garza's The Taiga Syndrome and Gabriel García Márquez's One Hundred Years of Solitude, Ertürk creates a surreal atmosphere that invites readers into the shifting labyrinths of the Mossy Village