The Priest Fainted

by Catherine Temma Davidson

Layered with love affairs, long car rides, poignant misunderstandings, moments of wonder, and more, The Priest Fainted is nothing less than the recipe of a young Greek-American woman's life. Using her imagination and the stories passed through her bones as ingredients, Catherine Temma Davidson bls memories, Greek myths, recipes, and family gossip to uncover a hidden history. Alternately enchanted with and enslaved by her past, the narrator discovers her own story in Greece as it crosses and doubles back over the lives of her mother and grandmother.

Genres: Fiction, Greece

270 pages, Paperback

First published May 1, 2000

Reviews

[Anna · Rating 4 out of 5]

‘Endings rewrite beginnings’. This quote from the book really encapsulates the essence of the story. In a compelling journey through the memories of three women related by blood and time, this book offers a blunt and beautifully written hymn to female emancipation and solidarity.
The trans generational storytelling underlines the importance of culture and past memories, however exposing the solitary journey necessary for each individual’s personal growth.
This book showed me a remote part of Greece, far away from the holiday destination clichés. A nation weighted with the baggage of centuries of culture, standing proud in the middle of the Mediterranean sea.

[Sharon · Rating 4 out of 5]

With the skill of Arachne, Davidson weaves her own story together with her mother's and grandmother's, to tell a story that spans centuries and continents. This book was especially meaningful to me; Davidson's mother's family comes from the same town in northern Greece that my mother's family comes from. Very likely the two families knew each other, even though they didn't come from the same village. When I first went to Greece in 1969, we paid a visit to Larissa. I rode in a horse-drawn carriage, which was not there just for its charm, but was still a real mode of transportation in lieu of taxis and autos. I met several cousins, one of whom was a dead ringer for my aunt--my mother's sister. Unfortunately for me, they spoke little or no English and my Greek was and still is very poor, and the visit remains very dim in my mind. Davidson's year of living in Greece, alternating between the serenity of the village and the frenetic pace of life in Athens is vivid. This is the mother-daughter book I might have written--if I had Davidson's writing talent.

[Elaine · Rating 5 out of 5]

What an amazing spellbinding book! The way the author uses mythology, and the life stories of her mother and grandmother and herself is absolutely magic. The writing is superb. I loved this book and read it in a night.

[John · Rating 4 out of 5]

At times this book is ... thick. But as a Greek-American, I appreciated a lot of it, even though I think it probably would resonate more for women than men. Still, if you're a Greek-American who's been dragged back "home" to meet your Greek relatives, there's a lot here that'll sound familiar.

[ANNA DEMETRA · Rating 2 out of 5]

It started that good because it has tons of stuff on Greek culture, but then it defaulted and went all over the map as she explored her sexuality in Greece, finding parallels with her mother.

[Joy · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book was like ... vegetables. Hard to get through at times, but damn do I feel good now that I've finished it.

Two pages in and I knew this book was meant for curriculum integration, giving me flashbacks to the various specialized literature courses I took in college. I could write a number of papers concerning its heady themes.

Things to know before starting in on this one:

1) The plot is somewhat non-linear… and that’s okay. Such is the case when a main character is struggling to piece together the past and the present at the same time. The lyrical prose makes it work.

2) Be prepared for a hearty helping of feminism. However, in terms of the book's overall examination of Greek culture, the sentiment is understandable and therefore tolerable. I have always HATED Ancient Greek literature. Davidson rewrites many of the myths in ways that I may not agree with, but at least find extremely thought provoking.

Beautiful, ugly, whiny, triumphant. So many conflicting adjectives for this book... keeps it from being a 5 star experience. It certainly put me in a poetic state of mind, so it'll always have a place on my shelf.

[Michelle · Rating 5 out of 5]

A woman's life told in Greek myths. She lives in Greece after having grown up in America and reconnects with her family’s past, particularly her mother’s past.

[Elizabeth · Rating 4 out of 5]

crazy greek story! made me hungry.

[Kelly · Rating 4 out of 5]

Truly wonderful. Greece - rites of passage, Greek myths, mothers and daughters, immigrants. Read it!

[Katie M. · Rating 4 out of 5]

I found myself completely unexpectedly captivated by this book.

[David · Rating 3 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this tale of the woman trying to find herself on a Greek island - hey I did it too - but I didn't like the way it ended.

[Cally Jackson · Rating 2 out of 5]

Very good prose but changes back and forth between her and her mother's stories too much and no real sense of 'plot' I didn't care what happened so stopped halfway through.

[Norma Bush · Rating 3 out of 5]

I found the book interesting because I visited Greece in 2004. Otherwise, I probably would not have finished.

[Natasja Holben Handy · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good. Not great. But if you're a woman preparing to go to Greece, I think you'll enjoy it.