Jaffareadstoo is delighted to be hosting today's stop on the
Aphrodite's Tears Blog Tour
 |
| London Wall Publishers 25th January 2018 My thanks to the author and publisher for the invitation to be part of this blog tour and for my copy of the book |
I am delighted to welcome back to the blog one of my favourite authors.
I asked Hannah where she got the inspirations for Aphrodite's Tears...
I asked Hannah where she got the inspirations for Aphrodite's Tears...
Inspirations for my new novel,
Aphrodite’s Tears
The seeds for Aphrodite’s Tears were sewn in my childhood. Firstly, through the Greek people I met who told me all about their country and its traditions (I grew up in Alexandria, Egypt, at a time when it was a very cosmopolitan place, and many of my parents’ friends and my school friends were Greek). Secondly, and importantly, through my family’s love of storytelling, which introduced me to Greek mythology.
It was a children’s book that first opened my eyes to these fantastic stories. I remember it as well-thumbed, with a cracking spine, and falling open on certain stories I loved: Persephone and Hades, King Midas and the golden touch, Theseus and the Minotaur (although the Minotaur illustration would frighten me). My governess read this book over and over to me, as did my parents, and I lived the stories in my imagination.
The stories of Greek mythology stayed with me over the years, and when I had my own children, I was able to rediscover them all over again; and then, more recently, once more with my grandchildren. The more I read these stories, all different versions of them, the more they ignited sparks in my imagination – I wanted to write something infused with these ancient tales.
Beyond my love of legends, though, Greece had become a natural choice for the setting for a novel because of my history with the country. Where better to situate a romance than where I have experienced some of my own most romantic moments? I bought my wedding dress in Greece, and I honeymooned there, on the Greek islands. The stunning sunset that Damian and Oriel watch together on Santorini in Aphrodite’s Tears… I have seen that myself, many times, and each time it has taken my breath away.
As well as the romance of Greece, the values of the Greek people struck a chord with me. In Aphrodite’s Tears, I conceived a story that focuses on a tight-knit community, isolated from others, in which tradition and family are very important. From my travels in Greece, I knew that the Greek island setting would be a good fit. Helios is the kind of island I think many of us would love to escape to, where traditional values are still important and family is at the heart of everything. I remember learning that according to Greek customs a man should still ask a father for his daughter’s hand in marriage, and thinking: ‘This is the place for a love story.’
Greece is a very special setting for me, and it is one I know well. ‘Write about what you know’ is an old adage, but an apt one – my novels are always set in places that have meaning for me. I would add, however, that is just as important to write about what inspires you. Greece – its people, its customs and traditions, its history, its legends, its landscapes – this place inspires me. For as the Romantic poet Percy Bysshe Shelley put it: ‘We are all Greeks. Our laws, our literature, our religion, our arts have their root in Greece.’
Huge thanks to Hannah for this fabulous guest post.
Twitter @fieldinghannah # AphroditesTears
Do visit the other blog tour stops
No comments:
Post a Comment
Thanks for taking the time to comment - Jaffareadstoo appreciates your interest.