The memoir is available on the Internet, e.g. amazon (Kindle and paperback versions) or our homepage.
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Dear readers!
If you liked our previous post with Harry A. Mavromatis’ essay THE FLAG (how the youth perceived Cyprus‘ liberation struggle in 1955), you might want to read THE LETTER.
This second free excerpt is the most literary essay of LOST EDENS – A Cyprus memoir and quite stirring. It pictures how the Turkish Invasion can affect Cyprus’ older generation to this day.
“He hesitated as he took the letter from their mailbox. It was neither from their son, now working for a construction company in the Gulf, nor from his brother who had emigrated to the United States many years back. These letters came in special airmail envelopes. This letter was obviously local. Moreover there were no stamps on it. It must be from some Government agency or other he thought as he slowly tore a strip from the side of the envelope and pulled out the letter. His hands trembled a little as he opened it.” (First lines of THE LETTER)
About the book:
LOST EDENS includes twenty essays that take the reader back six decades to Cyprus’ painful transition from a neglected but peaceful British crown colony to a flawed Republic following EOKA’s liberation campaign. A ten-year old outsider when he arrives in Cyprus from the US, the author recounts his teenage years on the island during this troubled period – growing up with his cousin Yiannos, under the mentorship of his uncle Nikos Kranidiotis, both important actors on the Cyprus stage in the years that followed. Informative and insightful are the author’s personal reminiscences of these two relatives, and his interactions with and recollections of Archbishop Makarios, for three decades the most important personality on the local and a prominent actor on the regional stage.
In addition to these high profile individuals, the narratives bring to life several less prominent people the author met and interacted with after arriving on the island, who accepted and influenced him directly. These include grandparents, teachers and secondary school classmates.
The author’s brushes with an Acropolis guard, the Bishop of Kyrenia, and his high school headmaster provide amusing asides. The volume concludes with perceptive comments about the causes of the Cyprus conflict and the author’s hopes for the future.
Where to find the book:
The memoir is available on the Internet, e.g. amazon (Kindle and paperback versions) or our homepage.
Read the interview with Harry A. Mavromatis!
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