Madame Pedamamaki

Madame Pedamamaki takes us into the world of a smiling `girl' who secretly mourns, throughout her long life, the lack of `a corner of her own'. Born and raised in Alexandria (Little Paris) Egypt in an overcrowded family apartment and onwards through her three marriages, she constantly yearns for just `a small corner and plenty of time' in which to indulge her greatest pleasure - reading! A dream not realised until at age 85 she migrates again - this time to Australia where her children provide an idyllic retreat from the world's demands.
Born the only blue eyed blonde in her Greek-French-Italian family she grows up feeling her beauty is a curse rather than a blessing that interferes with her need for splendid solitude. Relating moving tales of the sensation her unusual looks created in Egypt during her childhood, Madame Pedamamaki also treats us to a social, historical and cultural milieu that most have not experienced. Even in poverty the family's warmth, humility and generosity shines through the pages.
Denied a much desired life in the theatre by her overbearing father and thwarted from pursuing an intellectual life by the need to earn a living, Madame Pedamamaki never the less relates a life of sorrow and disappointment with ` joie de vivre'.
After leaving her family in Egypt the naive war bride experiences life in Britain & Singapore while married to her first husband, a philanderer, to the mysterious disappearance of her second husband in Greece and the frustration of her third marriage to a spoilt widower. Her successes and failures are laid bare in this interesting account of an unusual and varied life.
Rich in history, humour and intellect this story of a truly multi cultural woman who has a `foreign' accent in each language she speaks is begging to be read and enjoyed.

Dettagli