The latest addition to my website is Costas Taktsis‘ ‘ Το τρίτο στεφάνι (The Third Wedding). This was Taktsis’ only novel and what fun he must have had writing it. We follow two Greek women – Nina and Hecuba. Nina has a permanent feud with her adult daughter. On her wedding night to her first … Read more
The latest addition to my website is Stratis Doukas‘ Ιστορία είνος εἰμφαλώτου (A Prisoner of War’s Story). This is a very short book amd based on the account of an actual Greek man who managed to escape to Greece when the Turks took Smyrna in 1922. Our narrator is separated from his parents in Smyrna … Read more
The latest addition to my website is Rhea Galanaki‘s Ο βίος του Ισμαήλ Φερίκ Πασά (The Life of Ismail Ferik Pasha. Ismail was a historical character. He and his brother were born in Crete but captured by the Ottomans during a Cretan revolt and sent into slavery. The brother escapedwhile Ismail was spotted,trained at a … Read more
The latest addition to my website is Elias Venezis‘ Γαλήνη (Serenity). After World War I and the fall of the Ottoman Empire, the Greek army sought to protect the many Greeks who lived in Western Anatolia and whose ancestors had lived there for many hundreds of years. However the Turks under Kemal Ataturk defeated them … Read more
In my End of the year review for last year, I indicated that I might be leaving Twitter/X for Bluesky. That time is approaching. I am sure that I do not have to explain my reasoning, However, for those unsure suffice it to say that I consider the behaviour and actions of the site owner … Read more
The latest addition to my website is Pandelis Prevelakis‘ Ο Κρητικός (The Cretan). The novel essentially tells the story of the struggle for Cretan independence from the Ottoman Empire in the late nineteenth century . We have two key characters – the very real Eleftherios Venizelos who would later become prime minister of Greece and … Read more
Every year around this time, I read only books from one country. The past two years my planned book reading was interrupted by my decision to focus on novels from two countries who were victims of brutal attacks by another country – Ukraine and Palestine. I did think of doing Lebanon and this year , … Read more
The latest addition to my website is Mbarek Ould Beyrouk‘s Saara (Saaara). We get the first person narration of three characters. The eponymous Saara had a violent father, causing her mother to leave and, later, her sister. She has parties and affairs but is something of a lost soul, The young sheikh heads a Sufi … Read more
The latest addition to my website is Sergei Lebedev‘s Белая дама (Lady of the Mine). The novel is set in the Donbas region of Ukraine in July 2014. The Russians have annexed Crimea and are causing serious disruption in Donbas. During the book they will shoot down Malaysia Airlines Flight 17.The town we are concerned … Read more
The latest addition to my website is Guixing Zhang‘s 傀儡花 (Elephant Herd). Zhang is a Malaysian born Chinese speaker who moved to Taiwan and was naturalised Taiwanese. However his novels are set primarily in Sarawak, Malaysia. This one is about Shicai who is called the boy whom we meet when young and also when older. … Read more