An American-born traveler to one of Istanbul’s oldest communities receives an unexpected welcome in this heart-warming and romantic debut.
Fanis is at the center of a dwindling yet stubbornly proud community of Rum, Greek Orthodox Christians, who have lived in Istanbul for centuries.
When Daphne, the American-born niece of an old friend, arrives in the city in search of her roots, she is met with a hearty welcome. Fanis is smitten by the beautiful and aloof outsider, who, despite the age difference, reminds him of the fiancée he lost in the 1955 pogrom.
Kosmas, a master pastry chef on the lookout for a good Rum wife, also falls instantly for Daphne. She is intrigued by him, but can she love him in return? Or will a family secret, deeply rooted in the painful history of the city itself, threaten their chances?
Nektaria Anastasiadou is the 2019 winner of the Zografeios Agon, a Greek-language literary award founded in 19th-century Constantinople. Her writing has appeared in Al-Monitor, Daily Sabah, Mashallah News, The Shanghai Literary Review, Ruminate, and other literary journals. She received an honorable mention in Ruminate’s 2015 Short Fiction Contest and Glimmer Train’s Spring 2017 New Writer Contest. She lives in Istanbul and A Recipe for Daphne is her debut novel.
“The Novel describes Istanbul in a beautiful way. Readers can find useful information about the city (Constantinoupolis or Poli) about cultural heritage, Greek and Turkish expressions, details about marriage traditions, images, sounds, memories. A very nice romance, an interesting love story. Veria Central Public Library, Greece
Because it’s a meditation on identity and the scars of history, through [Anastasiadou’s] rich characters, the Rum people’s —Greek Orthodox Christians, some of whom trace their roots back to the Byzantine Empire— painful history over the last century comes to light. It’s also a novel to be thoroughly savored, from its enticing culinary elements to its charming love stories. “A Recipe For Daphne” is a ground-breaking, multifaceted novel that begs to be re-read innumerable times. Library of the Department of Greek Philology from the Democritus University of Thrace, Greece
| Author | Nektaria Anastasiadou |
|---|---|
| Nominating Library | Library of the Department of Greek Philology from the Democritus University of Thrace, Greece, Veria Central Public Library, Greece |
| Publisher | Hoopoe Fiction |
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