The new book from Greek-Australian Hariklia Heristanidis, All Windows Open, made its debut on Aug. 19 at the Greek Orthodox Community Center in Melbourne. The book is written in English and consists of seven short stories starring Chrissie Triantafillou, who, as the author writes, “is your average Greek girl growing up in Melbourne in the 1980’s. Dark hair, art student, bit of a princess. Other distinguishing features: she has no sense of smell, has been cursed by her mother, and is passionately in love with her cousin George.”
The novella began Hariklia’s creative thesis at university under the name Sense and Serendipity; an homage to author Jane Austen because, like her heroines, Chrissie is looking for the right guy, there’s the family connection and the writing style, funny and a bit ironic.
But her publisher had other thoughts. After reading a scene in the book where George, the love interest, barges drunk into Chrissie’s room and starts reciting a Yiannis Ritsos poem, he knew right there the title had to be an homage to the poem; the poet, wisely chosen by Heristanidis to introduce the readers to contemporary Greek culture. Heristanidis is also a blogger. Her stories open up a world of dreams, desires, and women who either tell fortunes, or – hopefully -make their own.
Book and E-book available at
See all the latest news from Greece and the world at Greekreporter.com. Contact our newsroom to report an update or send your story, photos and videos. Follow GR on Google News and subscribe here to our daily email!
