Really engaging and haunting book about the loss of innocence. ( )

This is a small and beautifully wrought masterpiece. In an amazingly well articulated first person narrative that has a consistency difficult to fault we follow a young girl from a small Greek island (Symi) to Athens and the life of the big city. The things she takes for granted and the things she misunderstands are touching and poignant. Her awe and joy at big city life that takes over from her plain descriptions of a mundane but idyllic childhood leads us with her into a finale that is shocking, unexpected and perfectly imagined. A climax that is beautifully in harmony with the pace and tenor of the whole narrative.

There are no technical innovations in this novel but the strength of the voice and the first person perspective are so richly written that one hardly notices. The translation by HE Criton is simply perfect. ( )