Delightful descriptions of food. Good fun, nice light read. Borrowed from Aunt Julie, who remembered I had been to Greece. ( )

I recommend this gentle and wise summer read. I enjoyed the descriptions of the people on the small Greek island and their culture and traditions.The plot was psychologically believable I loved the protagonist, Daphne, because of her imperfections and her willingness to change her course. Bring this book to the beach! You won't be sorry!
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Starting this book, I was very excited. The plot about a woman finding herself appeals to me and it became clear very early on that magical realism was going to play a role in this story as well. The place descriptions were hit or miss for me, but the author did a great job capturing the main character’s feelings as a little girl. This made sense because the author has mentioned that she drew on her own childhood experiences when writing the book. I also loved the Greek culture that was included, from a sprinkling of Greek words to great food descriptions. The myths that were included were another thing that was hit or miss for me, since sometimes it felt like too much exposition, but in general signs pointed to this being a book I was going to enjoy immensely. However, the modern day story just didn’t work for me.

It’s clear from the beginning that something is supposed to be wrong with Daphne’s relationship with her fiance. He doesn’t do anything wrong though and seems like a good guy. He’s not entirely comfortable with Greek culture and he helped Daphne enough that she questions her ability to run her restaurant on her own. That doesn’t make him a bad guy though or even the wrong guy for Daphne. The one truly terrible thing he does seems completely out of character for him. I just didn’t buy it. And the fact that Daphne is sexually attracted to another man who never apologized for being a jerk to her when they first met didn’t sit well with me either. In fact, not only is he a jerk to her, her wonderful Yia-yia completely lets him get away with it. Both Daphne’s Yia-yia and the sexy jerk might have a point that Daphne would be happier if she spent more time on family and less time at work. However, they were both very harsh to Daphne and she was very hard on herself. In the end, it made me feel like the moral of this story was that women should prioritize families over their careers and that people are bad if they don’t maintain their traditional ways.

I still might have given this book three stars, because the writing is honestly good enough that it deserves three stars, if it weren’t for the ending. Despite the message of the book, I could have been happy for our main character if she got a happy ending. Instead she gets an ambiguous ending in which sexy jerk is once again a jerk and there is no explanation of how she resolves the conflict between her career and family obligations. I know some people like ambiguous endings, but I hate them and that was enough to solidly ruin this book for me.

This review first published on Doing Dewey. ( )

Daphne is a chef running a restaurant in New York. A restaurant she built after her husband tragically died leaving her a young widow with an infant daughter. She has spent the years since his death building the restaurant and trying to make a secure life for herself and little Evie. She has only just allowed herself to consider dating and now re-marriage. But something is calling her back to the island of her childhood, the home of her Yia-Yia - Erikousa, Greece. Instead of the big, fancy New York wedding she convinces her fiance that she NEEDS to get married there. She has to see her grandmother again.

Once back she introduces Evie to the places she played as a little girl and Daphne starts to relax. She meets a mysterious friend of her grandmother's; a young man whom she never knew who knows secrets from her grandmother's past that Daphne does not. How can that be? They are, of course, like oil and vinegar. Slowly Daphne learns about her grandmother's WWII past and she can't believe she knew nothing of the horror that touched her island refuge.

She also learns that her grandmother might be more connected to the island than Daphne ever knew. As the winds in the cypress trees tell their secrets Daphne needs to decide which is best path for her to take.

There was much to like about When the Cypress Whispers; it is beautifully written and I found myself lost in the lure of a beautiful Greek island. But there is much that caused me a touch of aggravation as well. The book was so much more than a romance and yet we have a couple meeting in the oh so typical manner of boy meets girl, girl does not like boy. Boy does not like girl. SOMETHING HAPPENS. Each sees the other in a new light, blah, blah, blah. There was a rich history and the meeting was trite. The relationship was trite. I found it hard to believe that Daphne was supposedly so smart yet knew nothing of the WWII history of her precious island. The ending left much to be desired.

Yet I found that I loved Erikousa and its crazy inhabitants. When writing of the Island the book was magical. Yia-Yia was also a beautifully written character. Only when dealing with Daphne and her love life did it fall flat for me. ( )

When the Cypress Whispers by Yvette Manessis Corporon is a novel situated in one of the most beautiful places on Earth: a small Greek island. I just love Greece, and the book described some amazing scenery which really brought me back to the vacation my husband and I took a few years ago.

In When the Cypress Whispers Daphne lost the love of her life Alex in a tragic accident. It’s been years, and she and her daughter Evie have since moved on. Daphne will soon marry Stephen, who is wealthy and has helped Daphne create her dream of owning a successful restaurant in NYC. When Daphne takes Evie to the Greek isle of Erikousa before the wedding (which will be on the island later), Evie and Daphne fall back in love with this amazing place.

At the same time, Daphne finds out that her grandmother, Yia-yia, is hiding a secret. An amazing secret that makes Daphne question herself and the life she has made.

I really really wanted more of the historical fiction part of the book. It was such a tiny piece, and I think that with more of that historical fiction. . .

For the full review, visit Love at First Book ( )