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The House on Paradise Street
 
 

The House on Paradise Street [Kindle Edition]

Sofka Zinovieff
4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (14 customer reviews)

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Review

A beautifully written and timely book that brings into dramatic focus the tragedy of Greece's recent history. --John Humphreys

A fiercely absorbing, passionate novel.--Guardian

I can t remember when I was so totally absorbed by a book... Enthralling, moving and wise.--Cressida Connolly

A captivating novel that embraces the last turbulent 70 years of Greek history. --Mariella Frostrup

Zinovieff s portrayal of Greece is beautiful and believable, engaging all the senses.--Spectator

An engrossing saga of a family riven by ideological conflict and fractured by war. --Observer

A broad and enriching story of the early 20th century in Greece... An expansive historical framework governs the action of this impressive debut, but it is Zinovieff's scrupulous eye for cultural curiosity which gives the story its sinew and underlying humility. --The Independent

An arresting, finely woven first novel. --The Economist

That rare thing: a beautifully written novel which is a great read. It is also a compelling guide to the last sixty years of Greek history at this very troubled time for Europe and for all of us. --Vesna Goldsworthy, Author of Chernobyl Strawberries

A broad and enriching story of the early 20th century in Greece... The significance of worry beads; the protracted rites of grieving forced upon Greek widows; the carob trees that line the streets of Athens. An expansive historical framework governs the action of this impressive debut, but it is Zinovieff's scrupulous eye for cultural curiosity which gives the story its sinew and underlying humility. --Independent

An arresting, finely woven first novel which... offers compelling insight into the pathologies that Greeks still bring to their relations with outsiders. --The Economist

I can't remember when I was so totally absorbed by a book... Enthralling, moving and wise. --Cressida Connolly

An engrossing saga of a family riven by ideological conflict and fractured by war --Observer

Zinovieff s portrayal of Greece is beautiful and believable, engaging all the senses --Spectator

... that rare thing: a beautifully written novel which is a great read. It is also a compelling guide to the last sixty years of Greek history at this very troubled time for Europe and for all of us. --Vesna Goldsworthy, Author of Chernobyl Strawberries

Product Description

Athens, 1942 two sisters divided by politics and tragedy…   In 2008 Antigone Perifanis returns to her old family home in Athens after 60 years in exile. She has come to attend the funeral of her only son, Nikitas, who was born in prison, and whom she has not seen since she left him as a baby. Nikitas had been distressed in the days before his death and, curious to find out why, his English widow Maud starts to investigate his complicated past. In so doing, she finds herself reigniting a bitter family feud, discovering a heartbreaking story of a young mother caught up in the political tides of the Greek Civil War and forced to make a terrible decision that would blight not only her life but that of future generations...The House on Paradise Street is an epic tale of love and loss, which takes readers from the war-torn streets of Nazi-occupied Athens through the military junta years and on into the troubled city of recent times and shows what happens when ideology threatens to subsume our sense of humanity.

Product details

  • Format: Kindle Edition
  • File Size: 707 KB
  • Print Length: 320 pages
  • Publisher: Short Books (3 Jan 2012)
  • Sold by: Amazon Media EU S.à r.l.
  • Language: English
  • ASIN: B007CITBVC
  • Text-to-Speech: Enabled
  • X-Ray: Not Enabled
  • Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (14 customer reviews)
  • Amazon Bestsellers Rank: #43,867 Paid in Kindle Store (See Top 100 Paid in Kindle Store)
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Customer Reviews

4.6 out of 5 stars
4.6 out of 5 stars
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
14 of 14 people found the following review helpful
By Susie B TOP 50 REVIEWER
Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase
Sofka Zinovieff's first novel 'The House on Paradise Street' is an engrossing, interesting and warmly convincing story with two narrative voices; one of whose is Maud, wife of Nikitas Perifanis, and the other, Antigone, the estranged mother of Nikitas, and a former freedom fighter who was forced to leave Greece for Russia during the Greek Civil War, and in doing so, abandoned Nikitas as a small child.

When Nikitas, a vibrant and gregarious, but sometimes difficult man, is killed in a car accident in Athens, his wife Maud (much younger than Nikitas and his third wife) feels compelled to search into Nikitas' complicated past life and in doing so, she tracks down Nikitas' mother, Antigone, in order to provide answers to questions that only Antigone can answer. After sixty years in exile, Antigone returns home to Greece, but can she become reconciled with her family or has too much pain, suffering and grief been caused to avoid this ever taking place?

I have no wish to spoil this story for prospective readers, so I will try not to reveal too much information in this review, but I can say that this is an absorbing family story which moves backwards and forwards in time and takes the reader to Nazi-occupied Athens and then relates how a young Antigone gets caught up in the political machinations of the Greek Civil War which leads to her being forced to leave her homeland and find a place for herself in a very different country. There is some wonderfully descriptive writing here; the author's portrayal of Greece is beautifully described, as is her powerful account of Antigone's young partisan years as she hides in the mountains for survival. Sofka Zinovieff has blended together an interesting mix of both fact and fiction in `The House on Paradise Street' and the result is a moving and engrossing story with a wonderful sense of time and place.

4 Stars.
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7 of 7 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars A Wonderful Story of History and Humanity 21 May 2012
By Fleur Fisher TOP 1000 REVIEWER VINE™ VOICE
Format:Paperback
But I was a little worried, not quite sure if I understood enough about Greek history to appreciate a novel set against its occupation and its civil wars.I dithered for a while, but in the end I couldn't resist a novel that held so much promise. And as I read I realised that my worries were unfounded. I absorbed, and began to understand, that history through wonderful human stories.

First there was Maud: an expatriate Englishwoman who had married into a Greek family, adopted a new way of life, and raised a daughter.

Maud's husband, Nikitas, died in a road accident. And his widow was grief-stricken and, as she came to terms with what had happened. She had no idea why her husband had been driving at night, out in the country, and as she tried to work things out she realised that there was a lot she didn't know about her husband.

She knew that he had been charismatic, erudite, respected by his peers. She knew that she had been his third wife. But she wanted to understand his history. Why he had abandoned by his mother when he was a baby, to be raised by his aunt.his mother had abandoned him when he was a baby, leaving him to be raised by his aunt, never seeing him again.

And when her son dies Antigone realises that it is time to return to her homeland. though she knows it will not be easy. When the Nazis occupied Greece, Antigone, and her brother Markos, joined Communist insurgents to fight against the occupying forces. Their sister, Alexandra, was horrified and her Nazi sympathiser husband, Spiros was happy to inflame the situation. In the end there had been a tragedy, and relationships were shattered.

The story moves between Maud and Antigone, between past and present. Through momentous historical events, through complex human relationships, through terrible, moral dilemmas.

It's a big story, full of history, full of humanity, full of change, and yet it is always lucid, always compelling.

It gave me some understanding of what it might be live through occupation and civil war, how families can be torn about, how so much can be lost, how the past inevitably shapes the present.

And it brought Greece to life: the food, the streets, the climate, the communities, the politics. The contrast between Maud, an Englishwoman who had joined a family and made a life in Greece, and Antigone, a Greek woman who had left a family and made a life abroad, was striking and added depth. As did the different experiences and perspectives of three different generations.

It was the characters that made the story sing: intriguing, fallible, utterly believable human beings.

The only thing I didn't like was the occasional sense of contrivance, of the story having to be rounded. But that was easy to forgive when there was so much to love, such a wonderful story of history and humanity.

It really is an accomplished debut novel.

And now that I have read it I will definitely be bringing home Sofka Zinovieff's non fiction ...
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5 of 5 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars An absorbing read 7 Mar 2012
Format:Paperback
Having been a big fan of "The Red Countess", I was really looking forward to Sofka Zinovieff's first novel. I was not disappointed. "The House on Paradise Street" is a great read: well written, strong characters and set during a turbulent period of Greek history which has disturbing parallels with what is happening right now on the streets of Athens. The writer's understanding of the Greek culture and way of life comes through every page but it is the story - and in particular the relationship between the two sisters - that grips you and, in my case, had me scurrying home from an event so that I could find out what happened in the end. If you enjoyed Victoria Hislop's "The Thread", you will love this book.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
5.0 out of 5 stars A marvellous novel
This is a skilfully written novel by a highly talented author. Her prose is a delight to read and her story is powerful, gripping and meticulously researched. Read more
Published 2 months ago by BatsCat
5.0 out of 5 stars The House on Paradise Street
A wonderful book and it is little wonder that it was chosen to be read at 'A book at bedtime' on Radio 4. Read more
Published 4 months ago by Ian Sudbury
5.0 out of 5 stars living history
An excellent book, well written. Explains a lot about the civil war after the Germans had left Greece, and both sides of the conflict are very well presented, through a good... Read more
Published 5 months ago by Mrs. R. A. Collard
4.0 out of 5 stars A Novel Woven Out of Modern History
The professional reviewer John Humphrys decribes this book as timely, something I would endorse quite emphatically. Read more
Published 5 months ago by J. Nichols
5.0 out of 5 stars A heartfelt depiction of family, feuds and war
Sofka Zinovieff's "House on Paradise Street" is a novel straight from the heart. One can see the amount of research that has gone in to creating this masterpiece. Read more
Published 6 months ago by Bex
5.0 out of 5 stars great read
I was a little worried, not quite sure if I understood enough about Greek history to appreciate a novel set against its occupation and its civil wars. Read more
Published 6 months ago by Angela O'Neill
4.0 out of 5 stars The House on Paradise Street
This is a nice easy read which I took on holiday with me, you are able to pick it up and put it down. Read more
Published 7 months ago by Sarah
5.0 out of 5 stars The House on Paradise Street
The story of a family whose lives have been torn apart by Greek politics. This made an uncomfortable read, on holiday in Greece, when I realised that maybe the English hadn't been... Read more
Published 7 months ago by Mrs. B. A. Kennedy
5.0 out of 5 stars Exciting, gripping, touching and extremely informative
I really enjoyed the House on Paradise Street. It's such a page turner and I would reccomend it to anybody. Read more
Published 9 months ago by Alexandra D
2.0 out of 5 stars One or two interesting facts, but hardly gripping.
Sadly, this "novel" very quickly proved a disappointment. However, I persevered right through it because it was clear that the author was occasionally dispensing interesting... Read more
Published 10 months ago by Skylark
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