One Night Beneath the Lemon Trees: the unforgettable, moving book club read about family, secrets and love

by Mary Karras

'Wise, compelling and beautiful . . . by the end you feel as if you know the characters as intimately as your closest friends' CHARLIE CARROLL, author of The Lip

Cyprus, 1954 . One sultry summer night, a young woman abruptly ends a love affair. It's an impulsive act of revenge but it's one that will reverberate through the lives of everyone involved.

Finsbury Park, London, 1988. Evgenia has just been given the news that nobody wants to hear. She's dying, but there's still time to put things right before she passes away. Her best friend, Emiliana, is burdened with a secret that she's kept for far too long. It's time to confess to her son but he is searching for closure of his own. Around the corner, Melina is lost. Her father has just died of a broken heart and it's all because of her.

Beneath the lies, grief and family secrets, however, waits a truth that can mend the broken parts of all their lives. The truth of what really happened that fateful night beneath the lemon trees.

Genres: Fiction

344 pages, Kindle Edition

Published August 3, 2023

Reviews

[Joanne Eglon · Rating 4 out of 5]

4 ⭐

A novel with a dual timeline set between 1954 and 1988 - Cyprus and London

An interesting novel about a love affair with unexpected consequences

Enjoyed the story however there were alot of characters and found myself drifting slightly throughout

Descriptive and written well 💕

[Gok · Rating 4 out of 5]

Any book to do with Cyprus will catch my attention. Most of the time novels seem to mention the civil war of 1974, and the story revolves around these events.

So it was nice and refreshing to read this book as the war is hardly mentioned.

The story jumps backwards and forwards from the 50s-60s to the 90s but the stories are around the memories of the protagonist/s.

Clever the way the story is told through the five main characters each in their own chapters.

Young love; future dreams; family relationships; friendships; deaths and funerals.

No spoilers, but a book that makes you cry at the end is worth a big 4 rating.

[Rudrashree Makwana · Rating 4 out of 5]

The book is so compelling and unputdownable. There are families, cultural differences and then daughter and father relationship and mother and son/ Daughter relationships. The stories are told in different timelines of different people and different families . There are different perspectives about marriage. They are reminiscent, touching and emotional. There are family secrets, resentment and inevitable truths. And some of the stories has a tragic end.

There are cultural differences with mention of Adolf Hitler and cleopatra. We get to know about different cultures like Greek, Jewish, Indian, Turkish man and British . But basically the families are Greek. And the author has described Indian people in a good way not negative. Loved that thing

Thank you Netgalley

[Anne Whiting · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was quite a different read for me, I didn't get on with all the characters particularly Nico who was quite obnoxious but that is clever writing invoking a reaction to the characters.

I was a bit confused with the Greek families, who was who. I think the time and location were well researched and I suppose in those areas there would be quite a bit of racist feeling to 'incomers'.

Not really my cup of tea but I appreciate that everybody likes different books and thank you to netgalley.co.uk.

[Charlotte Byford · Rating 2 out of 5]

The book is far too confusing with the timelines and characters- too many names and not clear enough which era the book is flicking too. A lot of context is missing and my life is too short to continue with reading it. I tried to persevere but I was bored to death and it was making me annoyed reading this book!! I wouldn’t waste your time

[Joanna Poeton · Rating 1 out of 5]

I’m sorry but I didn’t finish this book as without chapters and/or dates I hadn’t a clue where I was and decided that although I was 2/3rds through the book I really wasn’t enjoying it enough to finish it. The first book I’ve given up for a long time but it completely lost me.

[Lesley N · Rating 4 out of 5]

I found "One Night Beneath the Lemon Trees" quite hard going due to the number of characters and the way it jumps around through time. Once again Mary Karras has written about immigrants to the UK; Greek Cypriots living in north London. Emiliana is not a particularly sympathetic character, not helped by the fact that she has held a lifelong grudge.

An interesting and complex novel. Thanks to Net Galley and the publishers for the opportunity to review this book.

[Claire · Rating 4 out of 5]

A long held secret and a family turned upside down.
A dual time line novel set between 1954 Cyprus and 1988 Finsbury Park, London.
Told from multiple points of view it’s the story of how the end of a love affair has unexpected consequences.
What really happened that fateful night beneath the lemon trees.
A moving and intelligent novel, however found it quite hard to follow due to the sheer number of characters.
Thanks @marykarras1, @johnmurrays & @netgalley for the eARC

[Mish Cromer · Rating 5 out of 5]

Mary Karras is an underrated writer and deserves to be more read. This is an original and affecting novel beautifully written, filled with wisdom and compassion. A novel of Cyprus and its diaspora in London generations after the war and the impact of secrets on the families that keep them. A compelling read that stayed with me.

[Izzy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Really lovely book. Would be 5 stars but for the sometimes confusing switch between characters. An Ev and an Em being best friends gets confusing.

[Sara King · Rating 2 out of 5]

Sadly I found this book quite hard to follow. Not really my cup of tea.

[Wendy McManus · Rating 3 out of 5]

I love Cyprus & so thought this book would be right up my street but it's poorly written & the plot jumps all over the place, but not logically.

[Estelle Pearce · Rating 5 out of 5]

A good read with a plethora of characters

[Catriona Rogers · Rating 2 out of 5]

Found this quite hard to follow and read to be honest :(

[Emma · Rating 2 out of 5]

DNF - snooze fest

[Isabella · Rating 1 out of 5]

Do I put this on do not finish? I did skim the last 50 pages. I kept thinking I will go back and read them properly but I just can’t.

I so wanted to like this. Cyprus is a beautiful island with a difficult history and I so loved The Island of Missing Trees. I thought this would be similar.

It was just hard to read. The characters weren’t distinct enough. There was just one element to the whole story which could be guessed at the start. The writing wasn’t bad but it wasn’t good either.

Sorry but it wasn’t for me.

[radiculose · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book was in a random shop and I got it as part of a deal. When I saw the lack of reviews online, I was dubious. I soon ate my words, though. This book was beautifully written, and the story was so engaging that I struggled to put the book down for hours on end. The third person narrative allows multiple character perspectives which really made me develop relationships with all of them. They felt like real people, with real dreams and real virtues and vices. I will definitely be reading more from this author.