Eleni Kyriacou

Dina is a Greek Cypriot who has come to London in the 1950s along with her brother. Living in a dingy bedsit and working in a cafe her life is restricted and her brother's gambling means there is little chance of bettering herself. Then she meets the glamorous Bebba and this puts in motion of series of events that will turn Dina's life upside down.
I did like the setting of this book, both in terms of the Greek Cypriot immigrant community and also 1950s London. The restrictive and chaperoned life that Dina has to endure, the lack of independence and the naivety of her character are well described. Similarly the smog, the poverty and the greyness of post-Way London are imagined well. My issue with the book was in terms of the characters being very slightly drawn and the plot lurching towards the melodramatic in many places with a very obvious and rather cliched ending. However, it's a pleasant enough piece of escapism!… (mehr)