Summary of Zigzag Through the Bitter-Orange Trees
“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.
Reasons to read Zigzag Through the Bitter-Orange Trees
“Zigzag Through the Bitter-Orange Trees” is a feverish and somewhat absurd novel about desire and revenge, set against the backdrop of a chilly hospital environment in Athens. It is the first novel to win both the Greek State Prize for Literature and the book critics’ Novel Award from the magazine Diavazo. Ersi Sotiropoulos is a contemporary Greek writer. Her novel “What’s Left of the Night” won the French Prix Méditerranée étranger in 2017.
Setting: Athens (Greece)
Book set in Greece: Athens and an unnamed Greek coastal village
Original title: Ζιγκ-ζαγκ στις νεραντζιές
Year of publication: 1999
Nr of pages: 234
