Petrie Harbouri

Wow! This woman can write...and I hope she continues to do so as I've now read all three of her novels. Her writing is often sparse and always beautiful.

This is the story of Robert, who needs a break from his life in England with Annie. He is an illustrator by trade, but finds a job as a gardener for an elderly woman while visiting a friend in Greece. What a garden...lush, ancient, filled with small reptiles and big secrets. And what a woman! Chloe has a past made up of infidelity and resulting consequences. All this unfolds in a unique style that juxtaposes the past and the present. I 100% loved it.… (altro)

This is one of the most amazing books I've read in terms of the beauty of the writing...it blew me away and had me reading several passages aloud to my ever patient spouse.

This is the story of Tasos, who after a long marriage to Marianna and a passionate but brief affair with Leonora, finds himself alone. He meets and befriends a young , gay man named Felix and we watch their relationship develop over time. We also find out what happens to Marianna and Leonora. The author explores the effects of love and longing; the challenges of really communicating with others, things best said or left unsaid in this short novel. The writing made me feel immediately like these people were a circle of friends I knew as I listened to them or to mutual friends talk about what was happening in their lives.… (altro)

This is the story of three brothers, born in eighteenth-century Greece. They each become highly successful, two in Italy and one, after a violent mistake, in Russia. The story isn't told in a linear style...we move back and forth in time. And, because the brothers share a strong emotional bond but are separated by great distances, we learn about their lives through letters and through conversations they have about each other with their families. The author makes this work beautifully, evoking a strong sense of kinship and all the love, loyalty, jealousies and frustrations that exist within families. The writing is superb. The characters are so vividly developed. The story is interesting, too. As we follow the brothers through their lives, we get a glimpse of life in 18th century Italy, Greece and Russia.… (altro)