Kirjahaku

The third book in the Quartet GREEK LETTERS. It is set both in Cheshire, just prior to the First World War, the war years and the era between the wars and then in mainland Greece. The story begins with the birth of Helene, who is the great-great-grandchild of Samuel Carr and his third wife Eleni. Family life in the WW1 years is slightly disrupted by the arrival of Phil, a Greek teenager also descended from Samuel Carr. Meeting her distant cousin many years later Helene finds herself sharing adventures in the Pindus mountains of Northern Greece and the Peloponnese. There is an unexpected twist to the end of this story as WW2 begins. The story is a period piece with the childhood scenes garnered from primary sources left to the author by the author's mother.

Historical fiction set at the time Greece attains its independence, starting in 1829. The location is mainly the Peloponnese area of Greece, Athens and other areas of mainland Greece and the Ionian with a shift to Cheshire, Manchester and Lake District in England. This is book 2 in a series of 8 thrilling tales set over two centuries from the early 19th century up to the present day and as such is a romantic family saga as the characters develop from Samuel Carr, who as a Philhellene arrived in Greece in 1827, and his Greek descendents. Each book is individual and can be read in any order. Scenes in the series are always topical, climate change, emerging cities or modern cities of culture, childbirth out of marriage, LGBT, blackmail and great descriptive writing making the books essential travel or holiday reading.

Written about the 1970s, the Glass Class is set partly in Pennine Yorkshire, North Wales, Athens and finally on the Greek island of Spetses where a group of friends approaching middleage are forced to confront that their mortality. Marriages are fraying, children have become more noticeable and alcohol for some is perhaps consumed more lavishly. When death is introduced into this toxic mix not once, but three times no wonder their cozy life is shattered. The characters, journalists, industrialists, doctors are struggling to keep their day to day life in order. They regularly take their concerns on holiday whether it is walking in Snowdonia or to the apparent safety of a Greek island. Between the scenes of a thriller and crime story is romance and a historical perspective introduced by a family tree. The stories of ancestral lore dating to the Victorian and Edwardian eras and told by their elders as cautionary tales. What none of them can know is that the clue they need to solve far too many deaths within their circle is here in their family tree.

In 1827 Samuel Carr leaves his home in Didsbury in Cheshire. This mild mannered young man is completely oblivious that his spontaneous decision to travel to Greece, fighting for its independence, will have a huge effect on his descendants. His travels take him to the scene of the Battle of Trafalgar near Cadiz and on to witness the Battle of Navarino in the Peloponnese; scenes he never imagined in his wildest dreams - and the dreams of this sensitive young man are wild. Nor will he realise that history will see this as the turning point when the Ottomans relinquished their hold on Greece and a decisive point in the decline of the Ottoman Empire. Travelling on a brig sailing down the Atlantic coast to the Iberia Peninsula his aim is to reach the Morea (the Peloponnese peninsula in Greece) to become a Philhellene to help the 'cause' of the Greeks in their War of Independence; following in the footsteps of Lord Byron, to whom he likes to think he is distantly related. Struggling with his sexuality he might be considered something of an anti-hero, forming strong bonds with the characterful men and women he meets on his odyssey. These early tourists journey through Portugal, Spain and the Mediterranean and through the wild mountainous and coastal paths of early nineteenth century Greece, with Samuel stumbling on ancient ruins such as Olympia and Vassae, caught up with the history and culture of Greece. But the effort required to reach the slightly more civilised city of Nafplio, the first capital of Greece, challenges them all, proving that plans and wishes may not run true in times of war and austerity. The GREEK LETTERS quartet is part of a series charting the fortunes and adventures of Rosalind, her ancestors, her partners and offspring and their family and friends, over two centuries, entitled "Jigsaw".The Author: Suzi Stembridge lives in Yorkshire with her family and was educated at Penrhos College, North Wales and at the Open University. She has worked in travel most of her earlier life and was the founder and Managing Director of Filoxenia Ltd, the Greek tour operator, until it was sold in 2004, as well as the travel agency Greco-file and has travelled extensively in Greece and the rest of Europe. For the last ten years she has devoted her time to creating these eight novels - which - should you wish - could be read as one long saga. That said all could be read independently and in any order.All the works in the series have a historical setting, together with a strong sense of place - and all the books have a Greek and UK North Country bias. This book was written mostly using secondary sources and research from the library (rather than the internet ) and a booklist is an appendage.