Itemize Books As The Illegal Gardener (The Greek Village #1)
| Original Title: | The Illegal Gardener ASIN B008LMT78U |
| Edition Language: | English |
| Series: | The Greek Village #1 |
Sara Alexi
Kindle Edition | Pages: 222 pages Rating: 3.9 | 5345 Users | 626 Reviews
Details Out Of Books The Illegal Gardener (The Greek Village #1)
| Title | : | The Illegal Gardener (The Greek Village #1) |
| Author | : | Sara Alexi |
| Book Format | : | Kindle Edition |
| Book Edition | : | First Edition |
| Pages | : | Pages: 222 pages |
| Published | : | July 15th 2012 by Oneiro Press (first published January 1st 2012) |
| Categories | : | Fiction. Cultural. Greece. Contemporary. Romance |
Chronicle To Books The Illegal Gardener (The Greek Village #1)
Alternate cover for this ASIN can be found hereDriven by a need for some control in her life Juliet sells up on impulse and buys a dilapidated farm house in a tiny Greek village, leaving her English life behind.
The house is liveable by local standards but the job of restoring the garden is too big, it requires strength. Juliet cannot bring it to life on her own.
Around the olive tree, hidden beneath the covering of bindweeds, are mattresses, broken chairs, shepherds' crooks, and old goat bells, the remains of past lives intertwined in a slow decay. The beauty of the garden is lost with the years of neglect and no one to appreciate it.
Juliet reluctantly enlists casual labour. She has no desire to share her world with anyone. The boys have grown, Mick has gone. This is her time now.
Aaman has travelled to Greece from Pakistan illegally. His task is to find work and raise money for the harvester his village desperately needs to deliver them out of poverty. Poverty that is sending the younger generation to the cities, dividing families, and slowly destroying his community.
What he imagined would be a heroic journey in reality is fraught with danger and corruption. He finds himself in Greece and follows the work, a little here, a little there. As time passes he loses his sense of self, he is now an immigrant worker, illegal, displaced, unwanted, with no value. Some days he does not have enough money to feed himself, let alone to return home to Pakistan.
In the village square, he waits for work, dawn not even broken.
Juliet hires Aaman.
Neither is entirely comfortable with their role. Juliet the Westerner, with money and a valid passport, even though she wants her garden clearing resents the intrusion. Aaman needs the work and money but resents the humiliation.
As the summer progresses, even though they are from vastly different backgrounds, cultures apart, they discover they have something in common, an event that has defined how they interact and even how they view themselves. Pieces of their lives they have kept hidden even from themselves are exposed. Each is the other's catalyst to facing their own ghosts...
Rating Out Of Books The Illegal Gardener (The Greek Village #1)
Ratings: 3.9 From 5345 Users | 626 ReviewsJudge Out Of Books The Illegal Gardener (The Greek Village #1)
I have read most of the books in this series. I fell in love with Greece thanks to Sara Alexi. Her interesting descriptions of every day characters let you see into real life of the Greek people. You become a part of their community and you have to find out who will be featured next and how everyone's lives intertwine. Always a joy to read every book.Beautiful Narrative, May 21, 2017 Phyllis Eisenstadt This is a book that does not draw you in with a "hook" of any sort, so that at times you just want to give up and put it down. Then, slowly but surely, without even noticing it, you become involved with the characters, as the author imbues them with more depth. The two main characters are of different ethnic backgrounds, speak different languages, and come from entirely different cultures. Yet, Ms. Alexi manages to merge the differences into
I loved the Illegal GardenerWhat a great book! I couldn't put this down and am looking forward to more from this author. It's a character novel and the tension and interest is built through the interactions between the protagonists rather than with direct action, which I find much more skilfull and engaging.I connected with and cared about the characters and went through a series of emotions, and cried at one point. This is a gentle, subtle book which nonetheless addresses some pretty weighty
A solid and slow-paced story which was a pleasant change from the intense and rollercoaster suspense thrillers Ive been reading lately. There is a beautiful simplicity about this story. In a world where people have become so self-absorbed, this story epitomizes human decency, a quality that is sorely needed. However, I expected to be soaked in the Greek experience where all the senses are overwhelmed... which did not really happen for me. I wanted to give the story 4 stars BUT the author going
I'm not sure what compelled me to read this novel. While the premise is somewhat interesting (and hints at something possibly steamy) it's not exactly the kind of novel I rush out to read. But it was cheap and sounded somewhat promising so I bought it. It was a good novel. Not anything tremendous. Not good enough to warrant reading follow up novels, but good in that it mostly held my interest. That I didn't hate the characters. It even warranted a vocal sigh when I reached the end, a sigh of
I liked this more than I thought I would. It was not what I expected either. I downloaded it thinking I was getting something like "Under the Tuscan Sun". It was a little deeper and darker. Very well written. I could feel the sun and heat and see the scenes vividly. Enjoyed the ending as well. It takes courage to forego the "happily-ever-after, girl gets her man" formula and still have a satisfying ending. Enjoyable."They are so tightly packed, they shuffle as one, as if boiling, centres of calm
A dear Goodreads friend recommended this book to me; otherwise, I would have never noticed it. It turned out to be a wonderful novel, so thank you, David, for bringing it to my attention. The Illegal Gardener is number one in a series of 19 books focused on the population of a small village in Greece. This was a different story for me, and is so elegantly told by author Sara Alexi. It is totally character driven, focusing on the relationship between a British Greek-English translator named
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