This is a book that I would absolutely recommend if you want a story revolving around modern Greece and how the culture came to be what it is today. Sofka's memoir [b:Eurydice Street: A Place in Athens|1051395|Eurydice Street A Place in Athens|Sofka Zinovieff|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1328840840s/1051395.jpg|1037864] also does an excellent job explaining modern Greek culture but for those who would prefer to have it explained through a story, this is the book to go to. It also focuses a lot more on the effects of the second world war on Greek culture than the memoir does.

Told through two perspectives, a Greek woman who has been exiled to Russia and an English woman who married a Greek man and has been living in Greece for over 20 years (I think?), the story revolves around their family and how it has been shaped by past events. In a way I feel like the family represents the many different perspectives within Greece and the clashes that can arise from them.

It's an ambitious concept, especially for an author who did not grow up Greek but rather settled there later in life, and I feel like she pulled off what she set out to do.

I love reading books about the places I travel to and this happened to be on the Greece travel list. I did not expect it to be a political thriller and a piece of historical fiction all rolled into one. This was a revelation about Greece and Athens though it was camouflaged in a lot of drama.

From BBC Radio 4:
Sofka Zinovieff's novel explores the long and tragic legacy of the Greek Civil War through a gripping story set in contemporary Athens.