Amazon Synopsis
This blackly comic story of a Greek Cypriot family living on a council estate in 1980s Nottingham is told through the eyes of Anna, a first generation teenager who works in the family fish and chip shop. Anna feels frustrated and isolated, and is struggling to break with tradition and escape a life behind the counter but her formidable, extremely protective yet hilarious mother Tina thinks that education is wasted on a girl - all Anna needs to do is to cook well, wear terrible frilly blouses and keep out of trouble so that she attracts a nice, suitable Greek-Cypriot husband. The only person who really seems to understand Anna is her extraordinary, wise grandmother, Yiaya, who reads coffee cups and practices rudimentary magic, much to Tina's disapproval. Through Yiaya's storytelling, Anna learns about the turbulent history of her ancestral island, her grandfather who went missing in the war of 1974 and finally discovers the secrets that have shaped her family. There are moments of joy (wonderful feasts where the table heaves with Greek delicacies) and sadness (the family have to cope with the cruel bigotry of those around them). But is not until tragedy strikes that Anna begins to take control of her own destiny instead of complying with her loveable but domineering mother, who is all too willing to map out her daughter's life for her.

Really enjoyed this, very warm, funny & moving book, it felt very real.

sent to fellow bookcrosser lyzzybee August 2005.

Received in the post today - thank you very much cally-c and for the postcard too! Your Greek in Three Months swapsie went in the post today so you should have that soon!

Note: I might not get to reading this for a few months as TBR is big and has to read in order of acquisition, apart from rings and rays. But I am looking forward to reading it!

A charming book, less high-grade chicklit (which is what it's marketed as, from the cover) and more Meera Syal - about Greek Cypriot Anna living in Nottingham and her riotous extended family. Well observed, well researched and indeed very real-seeming. A good combination of read-out-loud funny and rather moving.

I'm going to offer this on a BookRing as I think others would enjoy it.

BOOKRING!

Usual rules apply...

Make a journal entry when you receive the book
Contact the next reader for their address when you are almost done
Post a review when you've read the book - please try to send it on within a month of receipt if you can
Make a journal entry or controlled release notes when you send the book on

PARTICIPANTS

Tuftynut UK
herrgirl UK (UK only)
tazzell UK (UK only)
merimag UK (UK only)
Mrs potage UK (UK)
beekeeper40 UK (anywhere)
Mamikaem US Missouri (anywhere)
vivdripper US Massachussetts (anywhere) <-- it's here
anglersrest (wants to be at the end)

I now have my own copy of this book, so it's turned into a Ray. Anglersrest, feel free to re-ring it or do what you want with it!

This one's ready to go - PM'd tuftynut for address to send to today

RELEASE NOTES:

Sending to tuftynut today - the Ring begins!

Thanks LizzyBee, arrived in the post yesterday morning and looks like a much more fun and lighthearted read than my current reading. It'll be next on the TBR pile and hopefully I should get to it this week. And thanks for the postcard and friendly note.

Really enjoyed this book - a nice light read but with some insight to the Greek Cypriot community. I agree with LizzyBee - more Meera Syal and Monica Ali than true chicklit so it felt a tad more substantial. Some bits were hilarious and I loved Tina's Greek Cypriot English. Interesting, enlightening and enjoyable.

On its way to herrgirl tomorrow.

RELEASE NOTES:

On its way to herrgirl............

Delivered by the postman today. Thanks,tuftynut, for sending it on and also for the lolly! I'm currently on a quick read so should get to it in a day or so.

This was a nice easy read that I thoroughly enjoyed, a sort of British version of My Big Fat Greek Wedding. A sharp insight into the typical life of a first generation British born Cypriot girl, charming and witty and in places totally hilarious. But there is a serious side as Anna learns from her grandmother the troubled history of her native island. I have spent a couple of holidays in Cyprus (both sides of the Green Line) and there is such a sadness that this beautiful island remains divided with no sign of a resolution.

I also liked the inclusion of recipes for some of the Greek dishes the family enjoyed.

Off to tazzell when I get an address.

Arrived today thanks. And thanks for the wee card herrgirl, yes home is where the heart is :)

I really enjoyed this book. Found the references to the reason as to why Cyprus is a divided country very interesting especially from the viewpoint of those individuals directly affected by it.
I have merimag's addy so it will be off in the post first thing tomorrow. Thanks for staring this ray LyzzyBee

I have just received this in the mail today. Thanks Tazzell! I will take me a week or so to get to it. I am really looking forward to it after reading the journal entries!

It's me- merimag (not anonymousfinder)! I forgot to log in before I typed in the BCID.

I very much enjoyed reading this. It felt like is was very autobiographical so it will be interesting to see what Eve Makis comes up with next. I can't really add much to what has been said. I thought the writing was very rich and the characters were very believeable. It also taught me about Cyprus and the divide.

I am waiting to hear from MrsPotage to be able to send this on.

mailed to MrsPotage today
Happy Reading :)

The book has safely arrived into a bit of a work crisis, but I hope to read it this weekend as I am unexpectedly free ... and it might be just the thing to cheer me with a nice big fish and chips on the side too ;-)!!!! Sorry about delay in journalling....

I enjoyed this book (signed by the author!) and agree that it felt quite autobiographical, but also more lightly handled depth and flexibility of characterisation than you encounter in many of Black Swan's offerings - I also loved Tina's Cypriot accented English, you could really hear her saying it (and her courage!). The one downside to recipes in novels is the state the novels end up in, so I won't cook directly out of this! but hope to try a couple of the recipes - - feel moved to find out a bit more about the Cypriot situation and wondered whether Bitter Lemons (Gerald Durrell) would shed more light, or whether his perspective is too literary to be real and he only gets to 1957 anyway ... (does anybody know of any other readable books?)

Did I miss a resolution, or is Malcolm still er incapacitated?

This will be posted on to beekeeper40 as soon as I have the address..

Thanks for starting the bookring and sharing the book with us, and thanks merrimag for the postcard.

Arrived safely today from Mrs Potage - thanks very much!

I really enjoyed this book with its descriptions of a cypriot family living in Britain. I thought the most marvellous character was Tina the forbidding Mother of Anna. I would have her fight my corner any day!

Thanks to LyzzyBee for starting this ring.

Have pmed Mamikaem for their address.

RELEASE NOTES:

Mailed to Mamikaem.

Yea! This book made its way across the Atlantic! Thanks for the nice postcard, Beekeeper40. I will get to this as soon as I finish the book ring I'm currently on.

UPDATE: 06/26/2006 - starting this today!

This was a wonderful story! The characters were endearing. It has me craving Greek food now though ;o) Thanks to Lyzzybee for sharing this as a ring! Will send off to vivdripper early next week.

UPDATE: 08/01/06 - Please forgive me for holding onto this so long. Life got in the way, but it will getting mailed first thing tomorrow!

Yippee! This arrived in the mail today. I hope to get to it over the next few days and will post a message then.

I cannot finish this book (or any book at this point) due to some rather daunting health crisis issues (not mine- family member). I can't focus right now, though I did just adore some of the characters, particularly the mother and grandmother.I'm waiting for shipping info and will send it out ASAP.

This morning the postie delivered the Jiffy Bag and a missing item claim form in a Royal Mail plastic bag. The book has been sadly lost in transit, somewhere between the US and UK. I'll set the status to traveling, you never know, it just may receive a JE from whoever finds it.

As you all know, this copy is lost somewhere between the US & the UK.

A couple of days after I made the journal entry about the lost copy, I received a delightful email from the author, Eve Makis offering me a copy of the book to replace the missing copy.

The copy arrived while I was on holiday recently, and comes complete with an inscription. Thank you very much Eve.

The author's web site is HERE

You can follow the journey of the copy Eve sent HERE