What do you think?
Rate this book
Ghost Flight: A compelling tale of friendship, secrets and post-conflict Cyprus from the award-winning author of Thirty-Eight Days of Rain
WINNER of a 2025 International Impact Book Award. A 2025 Shelf Unbound Best Indie Book Competition Top 100 Notable Book. A 2025 BookLife Fiction Prize Quarterfinalist. A 2025 New York Book Festival General Fiction Award Honorable Mention. A Kirkus Reviews GET IT Book.
'A sharp and well-observed portrait of lives at the crossroads' Kirkus Reviews
'A rarity...Asprakis's skill at tapping into life's beauty and pain lingers long after the book's final page' the BookLife Prize
'A haunting and heartbreaking story' Rebekah Gregoriades for Cyprus Mail
'A compelling novel that deserves its place on your bookshelf' Annetta Benzar, author of I Am Cyprus
'Her most accomplished novel to date...confirms [Asprakis's] place as one of the most exciting writers of her generation' Matthew Phillip Long, author of Life Goes On Without You and Me
August, 2005.
High-school sweethearts Aristos and Agathi, and Petros and Melina, are the best of friends, until Aristos declares that he is leaving Cyprus for university.
Seven years later, Aristos returns with his new girlfriend, Wendy, to find Petros and Melina engaged, and Agathi still hung up on him.
As the estranged friends become reacquainted, their worlds come apart. All of them have wrongs to right, but with Cyprus hurtling towards the worst aviation disaster in its history, they might have less time than they think.
'A sharp and well-observed portrait of lives at the crossroads' Kirkus Reviews
'A rarity...Asprakis's skill at tapping into life's beauty and pain lingers long after the book's final page' the BookLife Prize
'A haunting and heartbreaking story' Rebekah Gregoriades for Cyprus Mail
'A compelling novel that deserves its place on your bookshelf' Annetta Benzar, author of I Am Cyprus
'Her most accomplished novel to date...confirms [Asprakis's] place as one of the most exciting writers of her generation' Matthew Phillip Long, author of Life Goes On Without You and Me
August, 2005.
High-school sweethearts Aristos and Agathi, and Petros and Melina, are the best of friends, until Aristos declares that he is leaving Cyprus for university.
Seven years later, Aristos returns with his new girlfriend, Wendy, to find Petros and Melina engaged, and Agathi still hung up on him.
As the estranged friends become reacquainted, their worlds come apart. All of them have wrongs to right, but with Cyprus hurtling towards the worst aviation disaster in its history, they might have less time than they think.
323 pages, Paperback
Published May 6, 2025
2 people are currently reading
2 people want to read
About the author
Eva Asprakis
3 books16 followersEva Asprakis is the award-winning author of three contemporary fiction novels. Her first novel, Love and Only Water, was published in September 2022. Her second novel, Thirty-Eight Days of Rain, won the 2024 Ink Book Prize for Fiction. On its release in March 2024, the novel was selected as a NetGalley Book of the Month, an IndieReader Approved and Best Reviewed Book, and a Reedsy Discovery Featured Recommendation. It was also a NoMo Book Club Pick, and one of ten titles longlisted for the 2025 Shelf Unbound Best Indie Book Competition. Eva's third novel, Ghost Flight, came out in May 2025, earning a GET IT Verdict from Kirkus Reviews who call the story ‘a sharp and well-observed portrait of lives at the crossroads’. Both Ghost Flight and Thirty-Eight Days of Rain received Honorable Mentions at the 2025 New York Book Festival Awards. Ghost Flight was also awarded a 2025 International Impact Book Award, named a Quarterfinalist in the Publishers Weekly-sponsored 2025 BookLife Fiction Prize, and honored as a Top 100 Notable Book in the 2025 Shelf Unbound Best Indie Book Competition.
Beyond publishing three novels, Eva has appeared on various podcasts and in publications including Cyprus Mail, Greek City Times and The Publishing Post. In 2024, she spoke on the Literature Panel at the 2024 Cyprus Diaspora Forum and ran a 'Writing as Remedy' webinar for World Childless Week. In 2025, she served as a judge for the Ink Book Prize for Fiction and became a member of the Technical Committee on Culture in Cyprus.
Eva lives in Nicosia with her partner and is currently writing her fourth novel. Her work explores complex family dynamics, sexuality and womanhood, and the search for identity and belonging.
Beyond publishing three novels, Eva has appeared on various podcasts and in publications including Cyprus Mail, Greek City Times and The Publishing Post. In 2024, she spoke on the Literature Panel at the 2024 Cyprus Diaspora Forum and ran a 'Writing as Remedy' webinar for World Childless Week. In 2025, she served as a judge for the Ink Book Prize for Fiction and became a member of the Technical Committee on Culture in Cyprus.
Eva lives in Nicosia with her partner and is currently writing her fourth novel. Her work explores complex family dynamics, sexuality and womanhood, and the search for identity and belonging.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews
May 8, 2025
What an absolute joy it is to read another sensational book from Eva Asprakis!
'Ghost Flight' leads us through the months leading up to a tragic aviation disaster, informed by Asprakis' own proximity to this event. And yet, what has truly left a mark on me after finishing is not this tragedy, but the subtleties of our characters lives, their relationships with each other, and the personal changes they each undergo throughout the book.
Asprakis' writing style is a breath of fresh air, crafted to perfection and endlessly readable. Every book of hers I have read I have not been able to put down, and this is no exception. I particularly loved Aristos' chapters, about how intergenerational trauma can so greatly shape our self-perception and the people we become. Melina's chapters also were a favourite of mine, capturing brilliantly how struggling with your identity can have such a significant impact on your life and your relationships with the people you love.
Asprakis has a true gift, and is a writer whose career we should all be watching with a keen eye. With Ghost Flight she has completed another successful addition to her already impressive collection. Thank you Eva!
'Ghost Flight' leads us through the months leading up to a tragic aviation disaster, informed by Asprakis' own proximity to this event. And yet, what has truly left a mark on me after finishing is not this tragedy, but the subtleties of our characters lives, their relationships with each other, and the personal changes they each undergo throughout the book.
Asprakis' writing style is a breath of fresh air, crafted to perfection and endlessly readable. Every book of hers I have read I have not been able to put down, and this is no exception. I particularly loved Aristos' chapters, about how intergenerational trauma can so greatly shape our self-perception and the people we become. Melina's chapters also were a favourite of mine, capturing brilliantly how struggling with your identity can have such a significant impact on your life and your relationships with the people you love.
Asprakis has a true gift, and is a writer whose career we should all be watching with a keen eye. With Ghost Flight she has completed another successful addition to her already impressive collection. Thank you Eva!
October 31, 2025
Eva Asprakis’ Ghost Flight is an unflinching look at the events that unfold when Aristos, a Greek citizen who has been away studying in London, returns home with his new girlfriend and reunites with former friends Melina and Petros. The latter are also a couple, busy planning their marriage when Aristos arrives with Wendy, his new partner. All of this transpires right before the historic disaster of Helios Airways Flight 522, from Cyprus to Prague. After a layover in Athens, it crashed, killing all of the 121 occupants.
Information about this crash and other snippets about air disasters pop up throughout the book, like news clippings, announcing the coming of something dreadful, and the storm of emotions unleashed by Aristos’ little reunion seems to work like an incantation that finally brings down Flight 552.
We quickly learn that Petros harbors all kinds of resentment toward Aristos. Why did he abandon them, and why had he returned with an English woman of all people? Petros bears the harshest grudges, the most painful memories of the Turkish invasion of 1974, in which many residents of Cyprus lost loved ones. He remembers the role Britain played in the conflict, the subsequent partitioning of the country, and he sees Wendy as a bitter reminder of it all. Plus, he is crippled by regret and pity for Agathi, who, as far as he is concerned, was abandoned by Aristos as coldly as he had abandoned Cyprus. In fact, he harbors so much unconscious animosity toward Wendy that it all explodes one night during her gallery opening, when he accuses her of being a phony, essentially, and whose work he deems disrespectful of Cyprus and its cultural heritage.
There’s a lot more boiling under the surface. One of the more interesting developments is the closeness that arises between Melina and Wendy. While there is plenty of commentary on Wendy’s gaucheness and lack of knowledge when it comes to Cyprus, she is also a source of inspiration for Melina. Wendy hints at a lesbian relationship in her past, and this attraction is something Melina understands and can relate to. In fact, one afternoon, she admits to Wendy that their friendship has motivated her, and that she respects Wendy’s freedom and wants to know more about her affair with a woman. Wendy demurs and makes it clear that Aristos had told her not to speak of it while she’s here, but it’s clear that she stands as a symbol of liberation, to a certain extent, in a country with more traditional gender role expectations.
As I said, there is a lot more going on. In fact, many of the book’s characters still feel emotions for others that complicate matters, and on more than one occasion, they are drawn toward infidelity and are constantly in the process of questioning their loyalties and life plans. During this time, we do get to learn quite a bit about the history of the island, and in one of the book’s more touching chapters, we get to see Wendy establish a connection with Cyprian artists. We also come to learn that Aristos is concerned about his family’s possible involvement in any irregularities during the war, as he is visited by an inspector from the CMP, which investigates the killings and the fates of displaced citizens that occurred during the 1974 conflict.
I really enjoyed the Rashomon-style approach to the narrative. While point of view does not technically shift – we are always in the third person – we do get to see things from a multiplicity of viewpoints, including Agathi’s at the end, which is among the most interesting. This is a hallmark of good fiction writing and character development. No one in Ghost Flight by Eva Asprakis gets off scot-free, and what it shows us is that life is complex and that there are no easy answers, just compromise. That’s about all I can say without giving away the ending, but there’s a reason for the references to the air disasters, and it works well as metaphor. If you like books about what makes people tick, you will love this enthralling and complex tale.
Information about this crash and other snippets about air disasters pop up throughout the book, like news clippings, announcing the coming of something dreadful, and the storm of emotions unleashed by Aristos’ little reunion seems to work like an incantation that finally brings down Flight 552.
We quickly learn that Petros harbors all kinds of resentment toward Aristos. Why did he abandon them, and why had he returned with an English woman of all people? Petros bears the harshest grudges, the most painful memories of the Turkish invasion of 1974, in which many residents of Cyprus lost loved ones. He remembers the role Britain played in the conflict, the subsequent partitioning of the country, and he sees Wendy as a bitter reminder of it all. Plus, he is crippled by regret and pity for Agathi, who, as far as he is concerned, was abandoned by Aristos as coldly as he had abandoned Cyprus. In fact, he harbors so much unconscious animosity toward Wendy that it all explodes one night during her gallery opening, when he accuses her of being a phony, essentially, and whose work he deems disrespectful of Cyprus and its cultural heritage.
There’s a lot more boiling under the surface. One of the more interesting developments is the closeness that arises between Melina and Wendy. While there is plenty of commentary on Wendy’s gaucheness and lack of knowledge when it comes to Cyprus, she is also a source of inspiration for Melina. Wendy hints at a lesbian relationship in her past, and this attraction is something Melina understands and can relate to. In fact, one afternoon, she admits to Wendy that their friendship has motivated her, and that she respects Wendy’s freedom and wants to know more about her affair with a woman. Wendy demurs and makes it clear that Aristos had told her not to speak of it while she’s here, but it’s clear that she stands as a symbol of liberation, to a certain extent, in a country with more traditional gender role expectations.
As I said, there is a lot more going on. In fact, many of the book’s characters still feel emotions for others that complicate matters, and on more than one occasion, they are drawn toward infidelity and are constantly in the process of questioning their loyalties and life plans. During this time, we do get to learn quite a bit about the history of the island, and in one of the book’s more touching chapters, we get to see Wendy establish a connection with Cyprian artists. We also come to learn that Aristos is concerned about his family’s possible involvement in any irregularities during the war, as he is visited by an inspector from the CMP, which investigates the killings and the fates of displaced citizens that occurred during the 1974 conflict.
I really enjoyed the Rashomon-style approach to the narrative. While point of view does not technically shift – we are always in the third person – we do get to see things from a multiplicity of viewpoints, including Agathi’s at the end, which is among the most interesting. This is a hallmark of good fiction writing and character development. No one in Ghost Flight by Eva Asprakis gets off scot-free, and what it shows us is that life is complex and that there are no easy answers, just compromise. That’s about all I can say without giving away the ending, but there’s a reason for the references to the air disasters, and it works well as metaphor. If you like books about what makes people tick, you will love this enthralling and complex tale.
June 30, 2025
Ghost Flight is a haunting, beautiful and stirring work of histories colliding and then falling apart from the writer of the acclaimed Thirty-Eight Days of Rain. Her most accomplished novel to date, Ghost Flight cements Eva Asprakis’s reputation as a remarkable and gifted storyteller, and confirms her place as one of the most exciting writers of her generation.
Set in Larnaca, Cyprus in 2005, Ghost Flight sensitively but purposefully navigates through the lives and relationships of Aristos, Melina, Wendy and Petros. Personal, historical and community traumas - as well as questions of belonging, both individual and collective - are all reignited when Aristos returns to Cyprus, years after his unexplained departure, with a British girlfriend. The novel culminates with the Helios Flight 522 air disaster, although Aprakis does not write about the crash itself or the immediate aftermath of the tragedy.
One of the many fascinating elements in this novel is its use of structure. A departure from Asprakis’s previous work, there are four protagonists, with each given their own section. The reader gets to spend equal time with each character separately, to understand their relationships to one another, and the emotional weight of their histories. Petros’s section, especially, was devastating to read.
As we have come to expect from this writer, Ghost Flight is rich with complex characters deeply embedded in the human condition, but Eva Aprakis’s use of language is the foundation of this novel. Gorgeously written, the prose is thoughtful, delicate and feels more intentional with the turning of each page. The pacing, tone and rhythm as we move between the internalised perspectives of Aristos, Melina, Wendy and Petros provide each character with a distinctive voice.
Planes and flights as a metaphor are a constant throughout this novel. Plane watching. Arrivals and departures. Leaving and returning. Journeys and destinations, both literal and metaphorical. These references, coinciding with the author’s use of time as a mechanism, our lack of and therefore its preciousness, weigh as heavily as an anchor. We, the reader, can already anticipate the ending and therefore, the highest stakes are placed before us. Time is dwindling. Resolution, acceptance and forgiveness become urgent for each character. This feels like a novel about endings; it is rich in the language of grief and loss. Not necessarily a grief for those departed, but the mourning of failures, shame and unrealised expectations.
The Epilogue left me in tears. Told from a fifth perspective, it confirms Ghost Flight as a morality tale. How our lives and the choices we make can live on through others. Surely, this is the truest definition of a ghost.
This novel stayed with me long after its final page. Ghost Flight is not only to be purchased and read, but one to return to if we are to fully appreciate the gravity of what Asprakis has achieved.
Set in Larnaca, Cyprus in 2005, Ghost Flight sensitively but purposefully navigates through the lives and relationships of Aristos, Melina, Wendy and Petros. Personal, historical and community traumas - as well as questions of belonging, both individual and collective - are all reignited when Aristos returns to Cyprus, years after his unexplained departure, with a British girlfriend. The novel culminates with the Helios Flight 522 air disaster, although Aprakis does not write about the crash itself or the immediate aftermath of the tragedy.
One of the many fascinating elements in this novel is its use of structure. A departure from Asprakis’s previous work, there are four protagonists, with each given their own section. The reader gets to spend equal time with each character separately, to understand their relationships to one another, and the emotional weight of their histories. Petros’s section, especially, was devastating to read.
As we have come to expect from this writer, Ghost Flight is rich with complex characters deeply embedded in the human condition, but Eva Aprakis’s use of language is the foundation of this novel. Gorgeously written, the prose is thoughtful, delicate and feels more intentional with the turning of each page. The pacing, tone and rhythm as we move between the internalised perspectives of Aristos, Melina, Wendy and Petros provide each character with a distinctive voice.
Planes and flights as a metaphor are a constant throughout this novel. Plane watching. Arrivals and departures. Leaving and returning. Journeys and destinations, both literal and metaphorical. These references, coinciding with the author’s use of time as a mechanism, our lack of and therefore its preciousness, weigh as heavily as an anchor. We, the reader, can already anticipate the ending and therefore, the highest stakes are placed before us. Time is dwindling. Resolution, acceptance and forgiveness become urgent for each character. This feels like a novel about endings; it is rich in the language of grief and loss. Not necessarily a grief for those departed, but the mourning of failures, shame and unrealised expectations.
The Epilogue left me in tears. Told from a fifth perspective, it confirms Ghost Flight as a morality tale. How our lives and the choices we make can live on through others. Surely, this is the truest definition of a ghost.
This novel stayed with me long after its final page. Ghost Flight is not only to be purchased and read, but one to return to if we are to fully appreciate the gravity of what Asprakis has achieved.
May 11, 2025
‘Ghost Flight’ is a beautifully written, fascinating portrayal of the lives of four protagonists residing in Larnaca, Cyprus in the early 2000s.
Being a Cypriot myself, I was very touched to read a novel that is set in the island I grew up on. Eva Asprakis captures the political tensions and divides that have affected Cyprus with sensitivity and thoughtfulness. In fact, this book made me reflect on the history of our island in a new way, as I saw it through the eyes of her well fleshed out protagonists.
Each character's story in this book is captivating, as they all have a unique and even hauntingly poignant trajectory that left me thinking about them for days after I’d finished the book.
While this book grapples with some complex facets of Cyprus’s history, ultimately, it deals with the deep vulnerabilities of being human. The characters’ emotional journeys resonate with the reader as they struggle with all the things that we do, too-family, trauma, relationships, identity, our individual and collective pasts, just to speak of some.
‘Ghost Flight’ got under my skin and broke my heart in the way that only well told stories can do.
Grab a copy and see for yourself-I highly recommend it.
Being a Cypriot myself, I was very touched to read a novel that is set in the island I grew up on. Eva Asprakis captures the political tensions and divides that have affected Cyprus with sensitivity and thoughtfulness. In fact, this book made me reflect on the history of our island in a new way, as I saw it through the eyes of her well fleshed out protagonists.
Each character's story in this book is captivating, as they all have a unique and even hauntingly poignant trajectory that left me thinking about them for days after I’d finished the book.
While this book grapples with some complex facets of Cyprus’s history, ultimately, it deals with the deep vulnerabilities of being human. The characters’ emotional journeys resonate with the reader as they struggle with all the things that we do, too-family, trauma, relationships, identity, our individual and collective pasts, just to speak of some.
‘Ghost Flight’ got under my skin and broke my heart in the way that only well told stories can do.
Grab a copy and see for yourself-I highly recommend it.
May 9, 2025
What a compelling read. Ghost Flight weaves through four characters and their relationships, some connections formed in haste, others long but disrupted. Each has their own voice, as well as their own secrets. As much as I wanted to stay with one character, it felt good to see them passionately, sometimes dispassionately, through another’s eyes. The writing is spellbinding and I had completely lost myself and forgot what fate might await some of the characters. Another wonderful read about complex relationships from Eva Asprakis.
May 28, 2025
Beautifully and sensitively written, 'Ghost Flight' unfolds gradually in its depth, succeeding in shining a light on the complexities of the main characters' inner worlds, whilst external events influence and impact their lives profoundly. Asprakis is very successful in capturing the nuances of local Cypriot culture and way of life, from the description of typical Cypriot dishes to referencing recent historical events that shaped the island's history. A compelling read; well worth diving into!
September 9, 2025
Loved it! I had the honour to present it in my hometown Salamina, Greece with dear Eva present.
It is amazing how "a foreigner" loves Cyprus and chooses to talk about modern Cypriots through the stories of their parents and grandparents and how much they have suffered by the Turkish invasion and the British Occupation.
Their traumas are flowing in their DNA and somehow affect their lives for ever!
Congratulations to Eva Asprakis for this compelling novel!
It is amazing how "a foreigner" loves Cyprus and chooses to talk about modern Cypriots through the stories of their parents and grandparents and how much they have suffered by the Turkish invasion and the British Occupation.
Their traumas are flowing in their DNA and somehow affect their lives for ever!
Congratulations to Eva Asprakis for this compelling novel!
Read
August 28, 20253.75-4 ⭐️
June 21, 2025
“She is crying. Because it is December and she is dressed for August, with the cold pinching her arms. She is crying because August will come and there is nothing she can do to stop it […] She is crying because, more acutely than ever, the seasons of her future – far beyond next summer – feel as inevitable as those past. Because she has known, since the day she agreed to marry Petros, that it was the biggest mistake of her life, just as she had known from the moment they met that he was the man with whom she would spend it. […] Another person – one who felt that they were living aligned and not a lie – might call this fate.”
—Eva Asprakis, Ghost Flight
Ghost Flight moves through the lives of four main characters: Aristos, Wendy, Melina, and Petros. They are flawed and complex, hurt, and at times intentionally and at others apologetically, hurting one another as they navigate life in the small town of Larnaca, Cyprus. The plot traces the intricate vulnerabilities of personal traumas against the backdrop of the collective trauma of an island still grappling with the consequences of the 1974 invasion and the subsequent division of the island.
Having grown up in the very places where most of the story unfolds, I was moved by Eva Asprakis’s sensitivity to detail, especially in the small ways the characters connect to the places they call home. But what was most poignant was her compassion for her characters and her resistance to binaries. Rather than weaving a narrative that condemns, she listens, and she lets the characters find their own understanding of what it means to love, to be loved, to serve and stand in a community, but most importantly, what it means to be themselves. To become themselves.
In a way, the characters write their own fate. But so does fate write them.
A compelling novel that deserves its place on your bookshelf.
—Eva Asprakis, Ghost Flight
Ghost Flight moves through the lives of four main characters: Aristos, Wendy, Melina, and Petros. They are flawed and complex, hurt, and at times intentionally and at others apologetically, hurting one another as they navigate life in the small town of Larnaca, Cyprus. The plot traces the intricate vulnerabilities of personal traumas against the backdrop of the collective trauma of an island still grappling with the consequences of the 1974 invasion and the subsequent division of the island.
Having grown up in the very places where most of the story unfolds, I was moved by Eva Asprakis’s sensitivity to detail, especially in the small ways the characters connect to the places they call home. But what was most poignant was her compassion for her characters and her resistance to binaries. Rather than weaving a narrative that condemns, she listens, and she lets the characters find their own understanding of what it means to love, to be loved, to serve and stand in a community, but most importantly, what it means to be themselves. To become themselves.
In a way, the characters write their own fate. But so does fate write them.
A compelling novel that deserves its place on your bookshelf.
September 27, 2025
//Boys lack the subtlety to harbor secrets…
It is girls that remember, that regret and resent.//
Ghost Flight is a reflective and emotional story about the entangled past of 4 friends. It is told from four different POVs in which each character is forced to face their pasts, their secrets and their relationship with each other. The divided nature of Cyprus and the daily tensions that its people are forced to live with are touched upon sensitively by the author. This is not a book with a complex plot but the complexity is in the nature of the characters - flawed, vulnerable and extremely real. It is these characters which make this novel come alive. They stayed with me long after I had read the last page. Well done to Eva Apsrakis for this novel which effortlessly transported me to Cyprus, and who describes so well the shimmering summer heat and the invisible ties between the islanders and surrounding sea. It is a connection that is difficult to describe but which cannot be denied. I understand it well.
//… it was never Cyprus that he wanted to leave.//
Thanks to the author for sending me a copy of this book.
It is girls that remember, that regret and resent.//
Ghost Flight is a reflective and emotional story about the entangled past of 4 friends. It is told from four different POVs in which each character is forced to face their pasts, their secrets and their relationship with each other. The divided nature of Cyprus and the daily tensions that its people are forced to live with are touched upon sensitively by the author. This is not a book with a complex plot but the complexity is in the nature of the characters - flawed, vulnerable and extremely real. It is these characters which make this novel come alive. They stayed with me long after I had read the last page. Well done to Eva Apsrakis for this novel which effortlessly transported me to Cyprus, and who describes so well the shimmering summer heat and the invisible ties between the islanders and surrounding sea. It is a connection that is difficult to describe but which cannot be denied. I understand it well.
//… it was never Cyprus that he wanted to leave.//
Thanks to the author for sending me a copy of this book.
Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews