LOST EDENS
Subtitle: A Cyprus Memoir
Publisher: Armida Publications
Published: 2011
Place of publication: Nicosia, Cyprus
Format: Paperback
Number of pages: 194
ISBN-13: 9789963706150
Description: LOST EDENS includes twenty essays that take the reader back six decades to Cyprus’ painful transition from a neglected but peaceful British crown colony to a flawed Republic following EOKA’s liberation campaign. A ten-year old outsider when he arrives in Cyprus from the US, the author recounts his teenage years on the island during this troubled period – growing up with his cousin Yiannos, under the mentorship of his uncle Nikos Kranidiotis, both important actors on the Cyprus stage in the years that followed. Informative and insightful are the author’s personal reminiscences of these two relatives, and his interactions with and recollections of Archbishop Makarios, for three decades the most important personality on the local and a prominent actor on the regional stage.

In addition to these high profile individuals, the narratives bring to life several less prominent people the author met and interacted with after arriving on the island, who accepted and influenced him directly. These include grandparents, teachers and secondary school classmates.

The author’s brushes with an Acropolis guard, the Bishop of Kyrenia, and his high school headmaster provide amusing asides. The volume concludes with perceptive comments about the causes of the Cyprus conflict and the author’s hopes for the future.
Table of contents: title: Dedication  ...  11; title: Foreword  ...  13; title: I; title: My Parents’ Farm  ...  23; title: Cousin Harry’s Jasmine Bush  ...  36; title: My Last Year at High School  ...  45; title: The Flag  ...  58; title: At Boarding School  ...  67; title: Father’s Village  ...  76; title: II; title: The Letter  ...  81; title: My Paternal Grandparents  ...  89; title: A Chest of Drawers  ...  95; title: Bond Between Brothers  ...  101; title: The Golden Mean  ...  107; title: A Special Mentor  ...  113; title: Cousin Yiannos Behind the Political Persona  ...  125; title: III; title: High School Revisited  ...  133; title: Sunset  ...  141; title: Oleanders and Poplars  ...  145; title: Snuffing out the Candles  ...  149; title: A Stranger in Kyrenia  ...  155; title: IV; title: Cyprus’ Makarios  ...  169; title: Looking back and to the Future  ...  183