...this novel is for all those who run round in circles in search of themselves...
for all those Grecophiles, like myself, who ran away to Greece and found themselves there...
and for those need a little Greekness in between unpacking their bags and buying the next ticket...
The Idiot & The Oddity
A contemporary novel of self discovery
and self definition
I have been visiting Greece every year for half my adult life filling dog-eared note books with fragments and snatches of life and gossip to keep me going through the colder months when I'm home again Britain.
Three years ago, during the first winter in our new home, a year of no travelling, I began writing a story about a young library assistant, Godfrey Ash, who arrives in Greece for the funeral of his uncle only to become entangled in local superstition and antiquity theft. As often happens, the story began writing itself and grew into a love story between the young man and the country of his uncle. I think the story came from those feelings we Grecophiles feel whenever we open the door to Greece.
Godfrey Ash is a reluctant traveller. He has all he needs in Cornwall. A sober, well-respected library assistant with predictable daily routine. He lives in his aunt's cottage in the village of Trepanning. She lives in Greece with her husband, Pantelis Lambrakis. One day Aunt Agnes phones with the tragic news that Uncle Pani has died of sudden heart-attack and begs Godfrey to be at the funeral.
Godfrey arrives on the day of the funeral and just before they leave for the church, his aunt imparts some deeply disturbing information in that his uncle was in fact his biological father. Godfrey is devastated, his mind a jumbled mess. He feels betrayed and angry. Blindly, he storms around the village unable to find his way. How is this new Godfrey to be reconciled with his everyday world back home? Dejected and unsure, he no longer knows himself. He avoids confrontation with swaggering groups of 'brickheads' that wander through his father's village; he lacks the nerve to speak his mind when he doubts the wisdom of well-meaning village expectations; but mostly he fears for the safety of all he holds dear after threats from his criminally self-consumed ex-wife who has plans of her own for the island. Once again, Godfrey chooses the easy way out and makes for the comparative cosiness of his life in the UK.
But whilst waiting for his flight, amongst the swirling tide of travellers,
he comes face to face with a young gypsy girl defiantly making faces at all she considers a threat to her sleeping family and friends. In a flash of clarity, Godfrey sees the contrast with his own lack of conviction and realises the solution to his problems lies in a deeper involvement with himself and thereby with the village community which in turn will earn him respect and give him the confidence to make his own choices and eventually find himself. Godfrey's transformation is almost complete. He turns his back on the airport and returns to the village, flushed and exhilarated, ready to face the impending crisis...
Three years ago, during the first winter in our new home, a year of no travelling, I began writing a story about a young library assistant, Godfrey Ash, who arrives in Greece for the funeral of his uncle only to become entangled in local superstition and antiquity theft. As often happens, the story began writing itself and grew into a love story between the young man and the country of his uncle. I think the story came from those feelings we Grecophiles feel whenever we open the door to Greece.
Godfrey Ash is a reluctant traveller. He has all he needs in Cornwall. A sober, well-respected library assistant with predictable daily routine. He lives in his aunt's cottage in the village of Trepanning. She lives in Greece with her husband, Pantelis Lambrakis. One day Aunt Agnes phones with the tragic news that Uncle Pani has died of sudden heart-attack and begs Godfrey to be at the funeral.
Godfrey arrives on the day of the funeral and just before they leave for the church, his aunt imparts some deeply disturbing information in that his uncle was in fact his biological father. Godfrey is devastated, his mind a jumbled mess. He feels betrayed and angry. Blindly, he storms around the village unable to find his way. How is this new Godfrey to be reconciled with his everyday world back home? Dejected and unsure, he no longer knows himself. He avoids confrontation with swaggering groups of 'brickheads' that wander through his father's village; he lacks the nerve to speak his mind when he doubts the wisdom of well-meaning village expectations; but mostly he fears for the safety of all he holds dear after threats from his criminally self-consumed ex-wife who has plans of her own for the island. Once again, Godfrey chooses the easy way out and makes for the comparative cosiness of his life in the UK.
But whilst waiting for his flight, amongst the swirling tide of travellers,
he comes face to face with a young gypsy girl defiantly making faces at all she considers a threat to her sleeping family and friends. In a flash of clarity, Godfrey sees the contrast with his own lack of conviction and realises the solution to his problems lies in a deeper involvement with himself and thereby with the village community which in turn will earn him respect and give him the confidence to make his own choices and eventually find himself. Godfrey's transformation is almost complete. He turns his back on the airport and returns to the village, flushed and exhilarated, ready to face the impending crisis...
