Product Description

Life had lost its sweetness. Socrates felt as if he had eaten an accursed apple and was, like Adam, suddenly prone to emotions he had never before experienced - fear, loneliness and shame. For Socrates, growing up in a small, Cypriot village isn't idyllic so much as frustrating. Summer is on the horizon and yet his parents, his teachers and his interfering neighbours seem intent on preventing Socrates and his friends from having any fun. But times are changing and the jasmine-scented breezes mingle with the threat of danger. Behind the facade of respectable island life lurk dark and menacing presences. "Land of the Golden Apple" is a bewitching coming-of-age novel about the lives and loves, joys and despairs of a diverse yet tightly-knit community and about how those same ties that bind us can also constrict us...

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #259557 in Books
• Published on: 2008-04-21
• Original language: English
• Binding: Paperback
• 304 pages

From the Back Cover
Spring has come to this Cypriot village, bringing with it an open invitation for Socrates to indulge in his favourite pastimes: setting off homemade fireworks, tormenting local pensioners, spying on his brother’s girlfriends, and defying his beleaguered mother. An uneasy truce is reached after an unfortunate incident with a box of matches, and a lazy peace is restored.

But behind the scenes in this seemingly idyllic backwater, an abused wife plots revenge on her husband, a scheming miser falls in love and a dangerous predator stalks the innocent. Spring brings a rude awakening to all of the villagers and Socrates in particular. The jasmine scented air carries with it real menace that will shake this close knit community to its very core…

About the Author
Eve Makis was born in Nottingham to Greek Cypriot parents, who emigrated to England in the 1960s. After graduating from Leicester University she studied journalism and moved to London to work as a reporter for Middlesex County Press. In 1994 she left London for Cyprus, where she worked as a freelance writer, radio presenter and as a reporter for the London Evening Standard. She returned to England with her Cypriot husband in 2001. They now live in Nottingham with their daughter. Land of the Golden Apple is her third novel, the previous two, Eat, Drink and Be Married (voted the Young Booksellers International Book of the Year 2005) and The Mother-in-Law, are also published by Black Swan. Visit her website at: www.evemakis.com

Customer Reviews

Land of the Golden Apple by Eve Makis
The novel evokes the sights and sounds of life in an olden times village. The characters come to life in the captivating tale of the coming of age of a boy called Socrates, each one with their joys, sorrows and histories. The book is a touching study of a close-knit, old-fashioned community in a land where the sun always shines. Where, even though bad things can happen, hope and justice triumph in the end. Eve Makis' third novel is just as enjoyable as her first and second were. I recommend this book to anyone who enjoyed the previous two books and to anyone who has an affection for Cyprus and her people.
Maria Sack, 13.3.09.

Makis's best novel yet.
This is a haunting and remarkable novel, sensitively dealing with several dark, emotional, secret lives. Charming, idyllic island life is patiently stripped back layer by layer as Makis reveals to us the increasingly desperate mother subject to intolerable levels of domestic abuse. The loss of innocence of a free wheeling adolescent and the prejudice and ugly underbelly of human nature thus revealed in a close knit community. The ambivalence and confusion of another emergent sensuality when its' natural course is irrevocably altered.
Forgive the slow start. The second half of this novel will not release you from it's grip and leaves you ultimately shaken, moved and enlightened.
Makis's best book yet. Highly recommended.