I received a free copy of When the Cypress Whispers from TLC Book Tours for my honest review.
About the Book:
• Hardcover: 368 pages
• Publisher: Harper (April 1, 2014)
On a beautiful Greek island, myths, magic, and a colorful cast of mortals come together in a lushly atmospheric debut celebrating the powerful bond between an American woman and her Greek grandmother.
The daughter of Greek immigrants, Daphne has been brought up to believe in the American dream. When her husband dies in a car accident, leaving her with an inconsolable baby and stacks of bills, she channels everything she has into opening her own Greek restaurant. Now an acclaimed chef and restaurateur, she has also found a second chance at love with her wealthy, handsome fiancé.
Although American by birth, Daphne spent many blissful childhood summers on the magical Greek island of Erikousa, which her grandmother still calls home. At her Yia-yia’s side, she discovered her passion for cooking and absorbed the vibrant rhythms of island life, infused with ancient myths and legends lovingly passed down through generations. Somehow her beloved grandmother could always read her deepest thoughts, and despite the miles between them Daphne knows Yia-yia is the one person who can look beyond Daphne’s storybook life of seeming perfection to help her stay grounded. With her wedding day fast approaching, Daphne returns to Erikousa and to Yia-yia’s embrace.
The past and the present beautifully entwine in this glorious, heartfelt story about a woman trapped between the siren call of old-world traditions and the demands of a modern career and relationship. When Daphne arrives on Erikousa with her daughter, Evie, in tow, nothing is the way she recalls it, and she worries that her elderly Yia-yia is losing her grip on reality. But as the two of them spend time together on the magical island once again, her grandmother opens up to share remarkable memories of her life there—including moving stories of bravery and loyalty in the face of death during World War II—and Daphne remembers why she returned. Yia-yia has more than one lesson to teach her: that security is not the same as love, that her life can be filled with meaning again, and that the most important magic to believe in is the magic of herself.
About the Author:
Yvette Manessis Corporon is an Emmy Award-winning writer, producer, and author. She is currently a senior producer with the syndicated entertainment news show Extra. In addition to her Emmy Award, Yvette has received a Silurian Award for Excellence in Journalism, and the New York City Comptroller and City Council’s Award for Greek Heritage and Culture. She is married to award-winning photojournalist David Corporon. They have two children and live in New York.
My Opinion:
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.
Rating:
3.5
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