“Fear of Barbarians” is a novella centred around two women, Oksana and Penelope, in a village on Gavdos, an island south of Crete. Oksana, who came to Gavdos from Ukraine to recover from an illness following the Chernobyl meltdown, finds the remote Greek Island like a dream. For Penelope, who grew up on the island, it feels more like a prison.
“House of Names” is a modern retelling of the ancient Greek myths and tragedies surrounding Agamemnon, Clytemnestra and their children, Orestes and Electra. Set in Mycenae, the story opens with Clytemnestra plotting and executing the murder of her husband Agamemnon upon his return from Troy, taking revenge for his sacrifice of their daughter Iphigenia. Told from the perspectives of Clytemnestra, Orestes and Electra, the novel follows the vicious cycle of violence and revenge that engulfs the family, ultimately driving Orestes and Electra to kill their own mother.
“Niki” is a family chronicle set against the backdrop of 20th-century Greek history. The protagonist, Niki Armaos, is the daughter of a prominent Greek communist. When she is still a baby, her father is arrested, and she goes in exile with her mother to an island in the Greek Cyclades. She grows up in Athens during the Second World War and the Greek Civil War, torn between the communist values of her parents and the right-wing views of her extended family.
The protagonist of “Outline” is an English novelist who travels to Greece to teach a summer writing course. While in Greece, she encounters colleagues, students, and friends, and recounts the life stories they share with her.
“God is my Witness” tells the story of Chrysovalantis, a man in his fifties who tries to live a decent life in a suburb of Athens just before the 2004 Athens Olympics Games. Chrysovalantis is a tragicomic antihero who blames many people for his failures and misfortunes and is determined to settle accounts once and for all.
“The Song of Achilles” retells Homer’s Iliad in modern prose, particularly focusing on the relationship between Achilles and his friend and lover Patroclus. The first part of the book centres on their upbringing as young boys at the palace of Peleus, Achilles’ father and king of Phtia. The second part of the novel recounts their actions during the Trojan war, as Achilles develops from a sensitive young prince into a heroic warrior in search of immortal glory on the battlefield, while Patroclus realises he is losing the love of his life.
“The Penelopiad” is a modern retelling of the ancient Greek myths surrounding Penelope, the wife of Odysseus. Narrated by Penelope herself, it recounts her life from her youth in Sparta to the twenty years she spends waiting in the palace of Ithaca for her husband to return from the Trojan War. When Odysseus finally comes home, he kills the suitors who have sought to marry her and claim his kingdom, but also orders his son Telemachus to hang her twelve maids, who he believes had consorted with the suitors.
Alexis Fielding, a 25-year-old Englishwoman, travels to Crete to visit the village of Plaka, where her mother grew up. The village faces the deserted island of Spinangola, which once served as one of the last leper colonies in Europe. During her visit, Alexis meets an old acquaintance of her mother and uncovers the tragic stories of her grandmother and great-aunt, including their dramatic love stories.
A 15-year-old girl joins her father on a cruise from Venice to the Greek islands aboard the Yugoslavian ship SS Proleterka. Her father is ill, and this is probably his last chance to connect with his daughter. However, she keeps her distance, showing more interest in the other men on the ship than in her father.
“Zigzag Through the Bitter-Orange Trees” is a novel about four young people in modern-day Greece. At the centre of the story is Lia, who is bedridden with a rare disease in a hospital in Athens, surrounded by orange trees. Her only connections to the outside world are her brother Sid and her nurse Sotiris. When Sotiris exposes himself to the 13-year-old girl Nina, Lia and Sid decide to take revenge on him.