My Greek Books
It’s My Greek Books Time! This month, I’ll tell you about a memoir, a psychological thriller, and a poetry collection.
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When the Past is Left by Helena Kidd
Eleni Press (February 21, 2024)
About the author
Helena Kidd is a Greek-Cypriot-Australian born to migrant parents. She’s a first generation Australian. Helena is also the author of When the Past Awakens: A Mother’s Pain, co-written with her mother, Maria Avraam. It reveals the story of Maria’s suffering throughout her life. In 2024, Helena received a literature award for these two books on her mother’s life from the Cyprus Diaspora Forum.
About the book
When the Past is Left is a companion memoir to Helena’s first book. It’s filled with short stories, essays, prose, elegies, and messages of love, praise, and support from a community who shared in Helena’s grief at her mother’s passing. She explores the past through generational history plus accounts of aging, death, and grief.
My Greek Books review
I grabbed When the Past is Left, not realizing it’s the second and companion memoir, but I was not disappointed. I totally fell in love with Maria Avraam—what an amazing woman she was: strong, resilient, a woman who overcame so much. Helena Kidd beautifully captured the last days with her mother–her passing, the grief, and aftermath. As someone who lost her mother, I identified with and felt the depth of her loss. When the Past is Left is a beautiful tribute to a mother, the mother-daughter bond, family, and more. I couldn’t put it down. Now I’m off to get the first one to learn Maria’s full story.
Correspondence with My Greeks by Scott Cairns
Slant Books (August 20, 2024)
About the author
Scott Cairns is an American poet, memoirist, librettist, and essayist. He is the author of multiple poetry collections, including The Theology of Doubt (Cleveland State University Poetry Center, 1985), The Translation of Babel (University of Georgia Press, 1990), Philokalia (William Ralph Press, 2002), Idiot Psalms (Paraclete Press, 2014), Slow Pilgrim: The Collected Poems (Paraclete Press, 2015), and more. His poetry has been published in multiple publications including The Atlantic, The Paris Review, The New Republic, and more; as well as several anthologies. Cairns is also the author of the libretto for the oratorios “The Martyrdom of Saint Polycarp” and “A Melancholy Beauty.” Spirituality plays a major role in his writing. He’s also published a spiritual memoir, called Short Trip to the Edge (Paraclete Press, 2016). Since 2003, he’s traveled to Greece every year.
About the book
A celebrated poet and an educator, Cairns writes in the introduction about the poetry collections that reside on his writing desk. In addition to poets the likes of Keats, Frost, and Dickinson, among others; are books by Cavafy, Elytis, and Seferis. He said these poets served as his mentors, and he relies on them to “provoke him” every time he reads them. He also states that poetry is a conversation, and Cavafy is the first poet to “speak” to him. The other eminent Greek poets have figured prominently in the ongoing conversation.
This volume was born from Cairns attempts to translate the poems. He engages recurring themes in the works. Each poem includes an epigraph to the particular poet with whom he wishes to continue the conversation.
My Greek Books review
Scott Cairns has assembled a stunning collection, paying homage to some of Greece’s iconic poets, including Cavafy and Seferis, as well as Karelli, Pavlopoulos, Anagnostakis, Themelis, and more. He clearly is a lover of words and thoughts, and culls influence from these great poets. Cairns calls them his mentors, and he lovingly shares what he has learned from them, his responses to their works. Here, I’ve been introduced to some poets I hadn’t read before, and I’m seeking out their work. While I’m still reading Correspondence with My Greeks, I’m savoring the moments, which reveal Cairns’ devotion for Greece, her poets, and the written word.
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Don’t Open Your Eyes: A Novel by Liv Constantine*
Bantam (June 17, 2025)
About the author
Liv Constantine is the pen name of Greek-American sisters Lynne Constantine (she also publishes under the name L.C. Shaw) and Valerie Constantine. They had been writing individually for years, but the magic they create together has made them international bestselling authors.
Their books have been translated into 29 languages and are available in 34 countries. They’ve sold more than 2 million books worldwide. Some are in development for both TV and film. Last month, it was announced that Jennifer Lopez will star in Netflix’s adaptation of their book, The Last Mrs. Parrish, directed by “Forrest Gump” filmmaker Robert Zemeckis.
This book was written solo by Lynne Constantine, under the Liv Constantine pen name.
About the book
Annabelle Reynolds has everything she’s ever wanted. A devoted husband, two wonderful daughters, and a career she loves. She’s happy, but she’s suddenly plagued by disturbing dreams of a future where she hates her husband and her daughters’ lives are at risk? Initially, she and her family attribute the dreams to overactive imagination. But when details from her dreams actually happen, she realizes they are premonitions, each leading her a life-changing moment.
When she dreams that her daughter is in grave danger, she follows her mother’s instinct, determined to save her daughter, but each step she takes could bring this nightmare to fruition. When more things happen as revealed in her dreams, she questions her life choices and wonders if she can really control destiny. Are the dreams prompting her change the course of her life? Will they ever stop? Can she save her daughter in time? You’ll have to read it to find out.
My Greek Books review
Liv Constantine is undoubtedly the queen of psychological thrillers. There’s a lot of hype on this book, and it does not disappoint. With plenty of twists and turns, this one will keep you on your toes. Nothing is as it seems, but one thing is for sure: Don’t Open Your Eyes will be another international bestseller.
*I read an advance review copy of this book
My Greek Books—May 2025
That’s it for this month. Now you have three new books to add to your to-be-read list! Check back next month for more My Greek Books. Til then, Happy Reading!
