Book Club "THE MURDERESS"

Sunday, April 7, 2019 – 11am to 13pm
6161 Cambie Street
Alliance Française

Organized by the Consulate General of Greece in Vancouver and EUNIC Canada-Vancouver, the next meeting with the EU Book Club will be about a Greek novel by Alexandros Papadiamantis. Moderators of the discussion will be Sophia Karasouli Milobar (VPL) and Eirini Kotsovili (Hellenic Studies, SFU).

"THE MURDERESS" by Alexandros Papadiamantis

“The Murderess is a bone-chilling tale of crime and punishment with the dark beauty of a backwoods ballad. Set on the dirt-poor Aegean island of Skiathos, it is the story of Hadoula, an old woman living on the margins of society and at the outer limits of respectability. Hadoula knows about herbs and their hidden properties, and women come to her when they need help. She knows women’s secrets and she knows the misery of their lives, and as the book begins, she is trying to stop her new-born granddaughter from crying so that her daughter can at last get a little sleep. She rocks the baby and rocks her and then the terrible truth hits her: there’s nothing worse than being born a woman, and there’s something that she, Hadoula, can do about that.” New York Review Books, 2019.

.

The Author

Alexandros Papadiamantis (1851–1911) was born and raised on the Aegean island of Skiathos, the setting not only of The Murderess but of many of his short stories, literary sketches, and novels. His mother was a descendent of an established local family and his father was a Greek Orthodox priest. As a young man, Papadiamantis spent seven months in a monastery and studied philosophy at the University of Athens before taking up a career as a journalist and translator. He enjoyed popular success as the author of historical adventure novels like The Gypsy Girl (1884), which were serialized in daily newspapers, but it was not until he turned to writing short stories and novellas that he gained critical recognition. Though a heavy drinker and smoker, Papadiamantis was devout, poor, and solitary, known as the saint of modern Greek literature. He lived in Athens rooming houses until 1908, when he returned to Skiathos. Two years later, he died of pneumonia.” Amazon, 2019.

Admission is free, but registration is mandatory before March 29 by email eubookclub@alliancefrancaise.ca

The English translation of the novel is available in paperback at Chapters and Amazon and also at the Vancouver Public Library.