Literature

An epic tale of love and loss

After two successful books, Eurydice Street: A Place called Home and The Red Princess, Sofka Zinovieff makes a triumphant foray into the realm of fiction with the riveting story of a young mother caught up in the tides of the Greek Civil War in her new book, The House on Paradise Street

After reading the book in one sitting, Sudha Nair-Iliades speaks to Sofka Zinovieff at her beautiful apartment in Vouliagmeni overlooking the Saronic Bay.

Sofka, what prompted you to make the switch from writing non-fiction to fiction and how intimidating was the experience?

I’ve always loved reading fiction; my favourite choice really. I always hoped I could write fiction but it seemed quite daunting.

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Gastronomy

Peas and Love

Athens Insider reviews Avocado, the new vegetarian restaurant on Nikis street, that is as green and wholesome as its name suggests.

From our vantage point, we could observe Eraj Shakib flitting from table to table, taking orders, greeting regulars and juggling five dishes at a time. A wide, beaming smile, a lean frame and a sense of serenity that any small entrepreneur in crisis-ridden Greece would envy, Eraj literally practices what he preaches. Avocado, he informs us, was the organic outcome of a dream he and his wife Vivi Letsou shared - of moving from San Francisco, “where you could set up a business in two hours”, to relocate to chaotic Athens to set up a yoga centre and retreat in 2003. The Yoga Centre is located right across the street...

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