Aphrodite’s Child: Escape to Cyprus by Sarah Catherine Knights
The People In Between: A Cyprus Odyssey by Gregory S Lamb
Novel set in ITALY (1950s glamour and WW2 legacy)
10 novels to read for a virtual escape to CYPRUS
7th March 2024
10 novels to read for a virtual escape to Cyprus – by Maria A Karamitsos (the WindyCity Greek)
Here are 10 novels set on the wonderful Mediterranean island of Cyprus.
Love and Only Water by Eva Asprakis
Of mixed heritage and amid an identity crisis, 21-one-year-old Daniela retraces her roots to Cyprus. As whispers resound through her grandparents’ home, she senses their anguish at Turkey’s invasion of The North, still as raw as it was almost fifty years ago. Then her aunt invites her across the border for a picnic. Beyond the buffer zone she runs into Beyza, who was her girlfriend five years ago when they both lived in London and were from ‘the east’. Here and now, with Daniela in The South and Beyza in The North, everything is different. Faiths conflict. Preconceptions collide. The divided island unravels alongside a war-fractured family. Can you be whole when your world is in halves? This is a story of living with uncertainty and of forging an identity as both yet neither.
The Village House by Soulla Christodoulou
Katianna, a young, successful entrepreneur living in London, is summoned by an attorney on Cyprus—she’s inherited her grandmother’s village house. With the help of her cousin and some new friends, this workaholic is lulled back into the island pace of life. But her life is in London, so she decides to renovate the house and sell it. The renovation not only dusts up memories, but meeting the handsome contractor sends her into a tug-of-war with her own emotions. Upon return to London, she discovers that she could lose her business. Caught in the frenzy to save all she’s worked hard for, she tries to put Cyprus behind her, but can’t, and begins to question everything. Can Katianna sell the village house and leave it all behind? Can she have her London life and keep her Cyprus refuge?
Death in Cyprus: A Mystery by M M Kaye
Against her strict uncle’s wishes, 21-year-old Amanda heads to Cyprus for a holiday. On the ship she meets a mysterious artist named Stephen. What was meant to be a pleasant excursion quickly takes a turn for the worse. Before the ship arrives in the port, they witness a woman’s suspicious death. Once they reach the island, it soon becomes clear that the death was in fact an act of murder. But the longer Amanda spends on Cyprus, the more she gets the feeling that she was the intended victim. Stephen keeps an eye on events, but is he there to watch over her or is he involved?
Aphrodite’s Child: Escape to Cyprus by Sarah Catherine Knights
A teacher, a devoted wife and a mother, Emily dreamed of having a third child. When she gives up her home and her life to join her husband at his post on a military base on Cyprus, everything changes. She struggles to adjust to her new life, but as she grows in confidence, she begins to love this new chapter and embraces everything it has to offer. Then, at a social event, a chance encounter thrusts her into a passionate affair that leads her to a version of herself she can hardly recognize. She loses sight of everything she once held dear: her family, her friends, and ultimately, herself. Her life spirals out of control and she must make an impossible choice between a new love and her family.
The People In Between: A Cyprus Odyssey by Gregory S Lamb
A family’s history is shaped by the conflicts during the 1960s and 1970s in Cyprus. Kiraz Nora Johansson and her twin brother never knew their mother who died while giving birth. By invitation of a family friend, she travels to Cyprus and discovers her family’s past. Through a history that was nearly lost to her and her troubled brother, she learns what it means to love and becomes forever tied to the Cypriot people and their unforgettable island home. Not long ago the people of Cyprus were torn from their lands by external forces. A “Green Line” on a map splits a nation and its capital. No matter which side of the divide they live on today, they are a united people in a country divided. They are the people in between.
A Watermelon, a Fish and a Bible by Christy Lefteri
One morning in July 1974, the Turkish army invades the town of Kyrenia in Cyprus. For most, this means an end to life as they know it. But for some, it is a chance to begin living again.
Everyone has always talked about Koki. They never believed she was her father’s daughter and her mother died too soon to quiet the rumors. And when she became pregnant and there was no sign of a husband, her fate was sealed. So she lives outside the town and hides from gossipers. But, held captive with the very women who have made her life so lonely, Koki is finally able to tell them the truth about the Turkish shoemaker who came to town and stole her heart, then left—but she can’t forget him. Meanwhile, Adem Berker finds himself back in Kyrenia, his former home, now as a member of the invading force. Here he left everything he ever wanted and, by cover of darkness, risking his life, he searches every house, cafe, and old pathway, for just a glimpse of the only woman he has ever loved.
A Good Year by Polis Loizou
Rural Cyprus, 1925. Despo is recently married, heavily pregnant, and deeply afraid. The twelve days of Christmas are beginning – the time when, according to local folklore, creatures known as kalikantzari come up from Hell to wreak havoc. Meanwhile, her husband Loukas has troubles of his own. Struggling with dreams and desires he doesn’t understand, he finds himself irresistibly drawn to an Englishman, a newcomer to the island. In a village wreathed in superstition, Despo and Loukas must protect themselves and their unborn child from ominous forces at play.
Field Rules by Carla Luna
Olivia is pursuing her doctorate in Archaeology. After her disastrous dig years ago, she decides she’s better off in academia and not in the field. But she needs one more influential person to serve on her dissertation committee. When her friend calls her to tell her a certain professor is running a field school in Cyprus, this could be her opportunity to win him over. Olivia accepts with trepidation. She loves teaching but would like the opportunity to get back in the field. Failure isn’t an option. When she arrives at the field school, she learns that Rick, her long lost fling—and the reason she’d gotten into trouble the last time—works there there. After their disastrous episode years ago, he’d worked on many digs, making a name for himself in the Mediterranean. But he doesn’t have a graduate degree and is called a “shovel bum”. They both need this opportunity to further their careers. But the attraction is still there. Can they put the past behind them and work together, without jeopardising their futures?
Secrets Under the Sun by Nadia Marks
On the island of Cyprus, in the small seaside town of Larnaka, three childhood friends have reunited for the funeral of Katerina, the much-loved old woman who had a profound effect on their lives. Eleni, Marianna, and Adonis grew up together, like siblings. Although from humble beginnings, Katerina’s love, wisdom, and guidance helped shape them all. Her loss leaves the friends bereft, but the funeral is not just a time to mourn and remember. Adonis mother decides that it’s time to share the family’s secrets and answer the riddles of their childhood. A story of deception, forbidden love, and undying loyalty unravels. What she reveals will change everything.
The Island of Missing Trees by Elif Shafak
Two teenagers, one Greek-Cypriot, and the other Turkish-Cypriot, fall in love, pre-1974 invasion. Their forbidden romance is centered around a taverna, where an unlikely couple/co-owners allow them a place to meet undetected. From the parrot that lives in the space, to the fig tree that occupies the heart of the taverna, each has a story to tell. The teenagers disappear, but the tree survives the destruction of war. Kostas becomes a botanist, and later travels to Cyprus to study trees—but really to search for a lost love. In London, Kostas and his daughter Ada’s only connection to Cyprus is a fig tree growing in their garden, a cutting from a beloved island tree. The personified tree also has a story to tell, describing how its life became intertwined with this family. And connects it back to reveal the past to help heal the future.
So there you have it. 10 novels set on Cyprus! There are many more, but this will get you started So many great books to read! Head out for a virtual trip with one of these books. No passport required!
Maria A Karamitsos
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