Cartes Postales From Greece
By Victoria Hislop
Blurb
Cartes Postales From Greece is about a young woman named Ellie who keeps receiving postcards for the former occupant of the flat she lives in. Each postcard shows a snapshot of different places in Greece and is signed simply with the initial A.
Ellie can’t stop herself from reading them and receiving these postcards begin to brighten up her day. She pins them to her noticeboard and begins to dream of these beautiful places.
One day, Ellie decides she has had enough of just looking at the postcard and decides to go and visit Greece for herself.
On the day she sets off she receives a notebook from the mysterious A. This notebook tells the story of A, how his own journey around Greece began and the stories he collected from people along the way.
Our Review
Cartes Postales From Greece is about a young woman named Ellie who keeps receiving postcards for the former occupant of the flat she lives in. Each postcard shows a snapshot of different places in Greece and is signed simply with the initial A.
“They arrived dog-eared, always torn, often illegible, as though carried across Europe in back pocket. Once or twice the ink looked as if it had been washed away by rain, wine or even tears. Sometimes they were bleached by sunshine, and the faded postmarks showed that their journey had often taken many weeks.”
Ellie can’t stop herself from reading them and receiving these postcards begin to brighten up her day. She pins them to her noticeboard and begins to dream of these beautiful places.
One day, Ellie decides she has had enough of just looking at the postcard and decides to go and visit Greece for herself.
On the day she sets off she receives a notebook from the mysterious A. This notebook tells the story of A, how his own journey around Greece began and the stories he collected from people along the way.
Each of the stories A collects helps the reader to learn about a different aspect of Greek society and culture. The themes of the stories range from Greek hospitality and fierce national pride to mythology and human sacrifice.
A’s story is one of heartbreak and the process he goes through in order to recover from it. Men are meant to be the stronger sex, but I have never felt so powerless.
Cartes Postales From Greece has the most beautiful postcard pictures peppered throughout the book ensuring the reader feels a wanderlust similar to Ellie’s.
Honeymoon and The Lonely Wife were two of my favourite chapters in the book.
Cartes Postales From Greece felt like a departure from her usual style of writing but can hold its own when compared to her previous work.
Our Final Rating...
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