Ioanna Karystiani is a Greek author who first gained recognition as a screenwriter before turning to prose in the 1990s. Her fiction often delves into the lives and relationships within seafaring communities, capturing historical settings with a keen eye for detail. She frequently sets her narratives on the Greek island of Andros, crafting compelling stories of family sagas and romance.
A brief reunion between a mother and her imprisoned son explores the intense emotions of love and underlying menace. This complex narrative delves into the dynamics of their relationship, revealing the tension and depth of their bond amidst challenging circumstances.
The moment of reckoning has arrived. After 12 years at sea, it is time for Captain Mitsos Avgoustis to return to the island of his birth: home to his wife Flora, his children, a granddaughter he has never met, and Litsa, his lover from all those years ago; a modern day Penelope awaiting her Ulysses. It will take all of his courage and strength to face the squalls and storms on land after a lifetime at sea--and all the while, resisting the temptation to return to his ocean going vessel, for it is there that his demons lurk and there that his true home lies.
Set in the Cyclades Islands, this novel recounts the tragic love story between Siros Maltabes and the stunningly beautiful Orsa, sentenced by her tyrannical mother and Greek tradition to marry a man she doesn't love and to watch from a distance while the man she loves marries her sister."