This book is the story of Emma Tennant's parent's house, Rovinia, set above the bay in Corfu where legend has it Ulysses was shipwrecked and found by Nausicaa, daughter of King Alcinous. It is also the story of people like Maria, a miraculous cook and the presiding spirit of the house, and her husband, Thodoros, and of the inhabitants of the local village, high on the hill above the bay. Full of color and contrast, A House in Corfu shows the huge changes in island life since the time of the Tennants' arrival, and celebrates, equally, the joy of belonging to a timeless world: the world of vine, olive, and sea.
A House In Corfu made me long to go at once and savour the tastes, smells and colours so wonderfully described in Emma Tennant's book. Her tales of locals, family and the glorious blue sky and sea had me wanting more as soon as I finished it.
A House in Corfu
Published by Thriftbooks.com User , 22 years ago
I was amazed by the negative review another reader gave this lovely book. I would guess that most of us who like to read about a life spent in the sun, do not expect, or want, an action-packed plot! The whole point of living a Meditteranean idyll, where one day slips lazily into another, is that not a lot happens. Or not the kind of things that we would all hate to confront in real life, such as police car chases, broken hearts, or other major dramas. What we want is to be transported to another world and to imagine ourselves there. This book is about being happy - never easy to portray, but Emma Tennant has succeeded. It made me feel a great deal happier than I was before I picked it up. It is also beautifully written.
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