Her entry begins:I’ve had the great pleasure of reading two books in a row by writers I know, and while they are very different novels, both of them have struck me with their excellence at conveying an entire world and a set of ideas. I’ve followed those two up with a novel by a writer I don’t know. But I’ll start with the books by friends first.About The Clover House, from the publisher:
I don’t cry at novels, generally. Movies and television (even commercials), yes. Sporting events, ditto. But for reasons unknown to me, it’s a rare novel that elicits my tears. Ann Patchett seems to have the knack, with both Bel Canto and State of Wonder working their lachrymose magic. As does the Greek writer Elias Venezis, whose Aioliki Gi made me awkwardly wipe my face as I finished it on a crowded plane. Chris Castellani’s All This Talk of Love hit me powerfully--not only on an emotional level that had me wiping my eyes as I turned page after page, but also on an intellectual level as I admired the crafting of the story, the richly drawn characters. Castellani’s language is eloquent and elegant; his insights into families and individuals are profound and moving. But I was struck early on by one of his simpler sentences. As Antonio Grasso, the family patriarch, walks the streets of his Wilmington neighborhood, he thinks of the village he left behind in Italy and of the way his fellow immigrants have tried to replicate that life in America. They have failed, he thinks, “because there’s never two of anything.” To me, that phrase evokes the...[read on]
Perfect for fans of Tatiana de Rosnay’s Sarah’s Key, this stunning debut novel brings to life World War II-era and modern-day Greece—and tells the story of a vibrant family and the tragic secret kept hidden for generations.Learn more about the book and author at Henriette Lazaridis Power's website and blog.
Boston, 2000: Calliope Notaris Brown receives a shocking phone call. Her beloved uncle Nestor has passed away, and now Callie must fly to Patras, Greece, to claim her inheritance. Callie’s mother, Clio—with whom Callie has always had a difficult relationship—tries to convince her not to make the trip. Unsettled by her mother’s strange behavior, and uneasy about her own recent engagement, Callie decides to escape Boston for the city of her childhood summers. After arriving at the heady peak of Carnival, Callie begins to piecetogether what her mother has been trying to hide. Among Nestor’s belongings, she uncovers clues to a long-kept secret that will alter everything she knows about her mother’s past and about her own future.
Greece, 1940: Growing up in Patras in a prosperous family, Clio Notaris and her siblings feel immune to the oncoming effects of World War II, yet the Italian occupation throws their privileged lives into turmoil. Summers in the country once spent idling in the clover fields are marked by air-raid drills; the celebration of Carnival, with its elaborate masquerade parties, is observed at home with costumes made from soldiers’ leftover silk parachutes. And as the war escalates, the events of one fateful evening will upend Clio’s future forever.
A moving novel of the search for identity, the challenges of love, and the shared history that defines a family, The Clover House is a powerful debut from a distinctive and talented new writer.
Writers Read: Henriette Lazaridis Power.
--Marshal Zeringue
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