What do you think?
Rate this book
Sophia's Return: Uncovering My Mother's Past
After her parents’ divorce, seven-year-old Sophia is raised by her paternal grandmother and, later, her father’s second wife. She visits her mother on weekends until she finishes her high school, after which she moves to the US to complete her post-secondary studies and launch a career in child welfare.
Decades later, Sophia travels back to Greece, determined to find her mother’s grave and finally learn about the reasons for her parents’ divorce. As she digs, she begins to realize how clashing cultures between her Greek-born mother and her father’s early years in Turkey wreaked havoc on the marriage. Determined to unlock the true story, she interviews family members, all of whom are sympathetic but reluctant to disclose information. Finally, she hires an attorney and resorts to document searching—and uncovers a story she never knew existed.
Written with illuminating insights and a mature understanding of what forced her mother’s decision to abandon their home, Sophia’s compassionate, authentic recounting of her journey will encourage those who search for the truth to persist in seeking answers to life’s unanswered questions.
Decades later, Sophia travels back to Greece, determined to find her mother’s grave and finally learn about the reasons for her parents’ divorce. As she digs, she begins to realize how clashing cultures between her Greek-born mother and her father’s early years in Turkey wreaked havoc on the marriage. Determined to unlock the true story, she interviews family members, all of whom are sympathetic but reluctant to disclose information. Finally, she hires an attorney and resorts to document searching—and uncovers a story she never knew existed.
Written with illuminating insights and a mature understanding of what forced her mother’s decision to abandon their home, Sophia’s compassionate, authentic recounting of her journey will encourage those who search for the truth to persist in seeking answers to life’s unanswered questions.
290 pages, Kindle Edition
Published September 7, 2021
3 people are currently reading
63 people want to read
About the author
Sophia Kouidou-Giles
4 books35 followersSophia Kouidou-Giles, an award winning author, was born in Thessaloniki, Greece and university educated in the USA. She holds a Bachelors in Psychology and a Masters in Social Work. In her 34 year child welfare career, she served as a practitioner, educator,
researcher and administrator publishing articles in Greek and English professional
journals.
In recent years she has written essays, fiction non-fiction, poetry and translation. Her poetry chapbook Transitions and Passages received recognition in a juried competition. Her writing has appeared in anthologies, including: The Time Collection, Art in the Time of Unbearable Crisis, With An Adamantine Sickle, and in journals, including Persimmon Tree, The Hellenic Voice, Assay, The Raven's Perch, The Blue Nib, The Writers and Readers Magazine.
Her memoir, Επιστροφή Στη Θεσσαλονίκη, was published in Greek by Tyrfi Press in 2019. Sophia's Return: Uncovering My Mother's Past, was published in September, 2021, by She Writes Press. Her novel, An Unexpected Ally was publish in October, 2023 and its sequel, Circle of Peace: A Greek Tale of Perse's Great Hall, is forthcoming in March 2025.
researcher and administrator publishing articles in Greek and English professional
journals.
In recent years she has written essays, fiction non-fiction, poetry and translation. Her poetry chapbook Transitions and Passages received recognition in a juried competition. Her writing has appeared in anthologies, including: The Time Collection, Art in the Time of Unbearable Crisis, With An Adamantine Sickle, and in journals, including Persimmon Tree, The Hellenic Voice, Assay, The Raven's Perch, The Blue Nib, The Writers and Readers Magazine.
Her memoir, Επιστροφή Στη Θεσσαλονίκη, was published in Greek by Tyrfi Press in 2019. Sophia's Return: Uncovering My Mother's Past, was published in September, 2021, by She Writes Press. Her novel, An Unexpected Ally was publish in October, 2023 and its sequel, Circle of Peace: A Greek Tale of Perse's Great Hall, is forthcoming in March 2025.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 23 of 23 reviews
September 1, 2021
Sophia’s Return offers a thrilling window into the childhood of Sophia, whose parents split up in an extremely rare for 1950s Greece divorce. The narrative is rich with details of the house and coffee warehouse, giving the texture and feel of an era of Thessaloniki life that is no more. Soon, the book becomes a braided narrative, with adult Sophia braving the famously frustrating Greek bureaucracy in a quest for missing information about her mother’s life and death.
Because Sophia’s father as a refugee from Asia Minor, the clash between mother-in-law and wife has a sociopolitical dimension. Although refugees, the mother-in-law and her son are nevertheless of higher social class. The book provides truly fascinating insights into twentieth-century Greek society and history. The changing role of women, the industrialization of Greece, and even the clash between east and west that colors every academic consideration of Greek history come alive in this fascinating story.
Layered into that story is the insight of Sophia’s experience in adulthood as a social worker, who made decisions about the fate of children just like her own childhood self. The complex dynamics of a nuclear and extended family, and the many pressures upon it, come into focus and readers will gain great insight into the unanswerable moral questions about marriage, childrearing, and foster care.
I thoroughly enjoyed this memoir, and I hope it is widely read. We don’t have nearly enough of these Greek American stories rooted in the history of our respective countries. Rich with sensory details especially when describing the coffee trade and her mother’s sometimes botched culinary efforts, this book brings the city of Thessaloniki to life. Sophia’s Return is a powerful meditation on the meaning of kinship, the legal and affective ties that bind us, and the way love and money intersect to deprive us of or provide us with security and joy.
Because Sophia’s father as a refugee from Asia Minor, the clash between mother-in-law and wife has a sociopolitical dimension. Although refugees, the mother-in-law and her son are nevertheless of higher social class. The book provides truly fascinating insights into twentieth-century Greek society and history. The changing role of women, the industrialization of Greece, and even the clash between east and west that colors every academic consideration of Greek history come alive in this fascinating story.
Layered into that story is the insight of Sophia’s experience in adulthood as a social worker, who made decisions about the fate of children just like her own childhood self. The complex dynamics of a nuclear and extended family, and the many pressures upon it, come into focus and readers will gain great insight into the unanswerable moral questions about marriage, childrearing, and foster care.
I thoroughly enjoyed this memoir, and I hope it is widely read. We don’t have nearly enough of these Greek American stories rooted in the history of our respective countries. Rich with sensory details especially when describing the coffee trade and her mother’s sometimes botched culinary efforts, this book brings the city of Thessaloniki to life. Sophia’s Return is a powerful meditation on the meaning of kinship, the legal and affective ties that bind us, and the way love and money intersect to deprive us of or provide us with security and joy.
May 27, 2021
Our family histories, from political upheavals to personal choices, shape who we become, but how much do we really know about the lives of our parents and ancestors? Unlike many American immigrants who yearn to know the past when it is too late, Sophia has childhood memories of the old country and living relatives she can consult. She also has conflicting family stories and unanswered questions about her mother’s departure in her early life and her parents’ subsequent divorce. Did her mother leave voluntarily or was she banished? The author’s determination to better understand what really happened between her parents and the forces that shaped them takes her back to her childhood home in Greece and prompts a deep dive into patriarchal legal and social systems. Her American and education and experience in social work becomes a lens on her own childhood sense of abandonment and how it has affected her as a woman and daughter. This journey of reconnection to the past is written with compassion and insight and illuminates an era and social system in which women had little voice or choice.
May 11, 2021
Immigrating to the United States on her own as a teenager, Sophia Kouidou-Giles, is the epitome of bravery. Moreover, she’d done everything right in life—star student, beloved daughter and Fulbright Fellow—though decades later, one lasting mystery still holds her, refusing to let go: Her parents’ divorce—had it been her fault? In this equally dramatic and warm-hearted memoir, Sophia takes a trip home that will change her forever, reminding her—and us—that the answers we seek are sometimes much closer than we think. What she learns along the way is revealing to her own life, certainly, though also to any woman still grappling to sort through the pressures of tradition and identity, and the mistakes we make—or get made for us—along the way. Told in lucid prose that evokes both memory and mystery, this is a story that all women—across ages and oceans—need very much to hear."
July 19, 2021
Sophia’s Return is a book that carried me away to Sophia Kouidou-Giles’s hometown of Thessaloniki, Greece. Without boarding a plane, I walked its busy streets, navigated the offices of City Hall, spent an afternoon having treats among neighbors in her mother’s parlor, and gained insight into some of the ways Greek society has changed in the course of a lifetime. All through the eyes of an immigrant returning with questions.
July 14, 2021
I enjoy literature set in foreign places in a time I can only imagine. The setting of this memoir is in Greece and it's a page turner! It’s a memorable story of a daughter's search for understanding, a past rediscovered, and a realization of how we all yearn to find meaning in our lives.
September 9, 2021
I loved this book! Lovely turns of phrase and picturesque scenes make this story part travelogue, mystery, and family drama, with all the elements to keep the reader engaged in Sophia’s dogged search to learn the true circumstances of her mother’s mysterious, sudden absence from her life. Highly recommended.
Mary Weikert
Mary Weikert
September 13, 2021
"No one else I knew had a family like mine." In Thessaloniki, Greece, seven-year-old Sophia is a carefree child playing with her friends when from across the street she sees her mother leave their house and get into a moving van without a word. From that moment, nothing is ever carefree for Sophia again. Thus begins a lifelong quest to unravel the mystery of why her mother left. Told in real narrative time and from the wizened distance of the years, SOPHIA's RETURN is a jewel of a read. This is memoir at its best, when a writer boldly assays a deep emotional wound inflicted in childhood, and is redeemed by the healing powers of her mature, questioning self.
November 26, 2021
Personal histories fascinate me. I enjoy exploring the complexities of relationships and delving into intriguing past lives. Nonetheless, I do not find all autobiographies equally enjoyable. Some just don’t ring true, particularly if I suspect that the author is busy building a preferred narrative under the guise of truth. This is categorically not the case with ‘Sophia’s Return’: it is simply captivating. Part of its fascination for me is that it defies classification. True, it involves Sophia’s desperate and, at times, frustrating attempts to discover the truth (or should that be truths?) about her mother’s past – and by extension her relationship with her father and other members of her extended family. But this wonderful book is much more than that. It explores the joys and frustrations of her Greek childhood with honesty and warmth. It makes you want to hop on a plane, Covid-19 restrictions permitting, to feel that Mediterranean sun on your face. There are, however, moments of aching sadness too. This is no rose-tinted version of her childhood as her recollections concerning the treatment of her favourite aunt testifies.
Perhaps one reason why I enjoyed reading this book so much is that, as I hinted at earlier, it is autobiographical in leaning but it is not a straightforward autobiography. Its structure is a tour de force: the shifting of time frames and geographical contexts means that piece by piece the reader is able to assemble information and in so doing understand the full significance of ‘Sophia’s Return’. Indeed, the title itself is apposite in that in returning to Greece and revisiting the past the author is now emotionally free to return to Seattle. In the author’s own words, she had ’blasted an opening into a past that [she] had set aside.’ She now understands as we are also able to understand. ‘Sophia’s Return’ is an honest exploration of relationships at all sorts of levels – familial of course but also cultural, historical, and political … and that’s just the start.
I enjoyed reading this book immensely and am grateful to have read it. I learned so much that has relevance to my own history and that is an integral part of the book’s success. Yes, it is about Sophia’s story but so much of it shines a light on our own concerns as children and as adults. It gently shows us how it is possible, piece by piece, to assemble our nuggets of understanding to create an appreciation of both past and present that is honest, healthy and helpful. I applaud Sophia Kouidou-Giles’ skill as a storyteller, her tenacity as a researcher and her compassion as a fellow human being. I was enthralled from start to finish.
Perhaps one reason why I enjoyed reading this book so much is that, as I hinted at earlier, it is autobiographical in leaning but it is not a straightforward autobiography. Its structure is a tour de force: the shifting of time frames and geographical contexts means that piece by piece the reader is able to assemble information and in so doing understand the full significance of ‘Sophia’s Return’. Indeed, the title itself is apposite in that in returning to Greece and revisiting the past the author is now emotionally free to return to Seattle. In the author’s own words, she had ’blasted an opening into a past that [she] had set aside.’ She now understands as we are also able to understand. ‘Sophia’s Return’ is an honest exploration of relationships at all sorts of levels – familial of course but also cultural, historical, and political … and that’s just the start.
I enjoyed reading this book immensely and am grateful to have read it. I learned so much that has relevance to my own history and that is an integral part of the book’s success. Yes, it is about Sophia’s story but so much of it shines a light on our own concerns as children and as adults. It gently shows us how it is possible, piece by piece, to assemble our nuggets of understanding to create an appreciation of both past and present that is honest, healthy and helpful. I applaud Sophia Kouidou-Giles’ skill as a storyteller, her tenacity as a researcher and her compassion as a fellow human being. I was enthralled from start to finish.
July 10, 2022
Sophia’s Return outlines in heartbreaking detail the plight of women in the patriarchal society of Greece in the 1950s. Oppressed by the demands and criticism of her husband’s live-in mother, and her philandering, critical husband whose business success was funded in large part by her dowry, Sophia’s mother takes the brave but costly step of leaving him and their six-year-old daughter Sophia. She loads all her furniture into a truck and drives away to the face the economic and social downward spiral of a divorced woman in Greece at that time.
Sophia finds herself torn between the relatively privileged household of her father that she still adores and his new wife and the sad circumstances of her mother living with her parents and her schizophrenic but brilliant sister. Eventually, she leaves the sadness, mystery, and silences of her childhood behind to seek education in psychology and social work and marriage in America. Through the lens of her training in social work, she revisits her native Greece, obtains documents, and conducts interviews that help her reconstruct the personal and social factors leading to the demise of her parents’ marriage that affected her so profoundly as a child.
As Sophia constructs a new understanding of the complexity of her parents, grandparents, and mentally ill aunt, she takes us on a sensual journey of Greek life during the middle of the last century and her love of her native land, its coffee, cuisine, landscape, people, and culture shine through. This is a journey that you will not regret taking through this unique and important memoir, dealing with social issues that unfortunately still plague us today.
Sophia finds herself torn between the relatively privileged household of her father that she still adores and his new wife and the sad circumstances of her mother living with her parents and her schizophrenic but brilliant sister. Eventually, she leaves the sadness, mystery, and silences of her childhood behind to seek education in psychology and social work and marriage in America. Through the lens of her training in social work, she revisits her native Greece, obtains documents, and conducts interviews that help her reconstruct the personal and social factors leading to the demise of her parents’ marriage that affected her so profoundly as a child.
As Sophia constructs a new understanding of the complexity of her parents, grandparents, and mentally ill aunt, she takes us on a sensual journey of Greek life during the middle of the last century and her love of her native land, its coffee, cuisine, landscape, people, and culture shine through. This is a journey that you will not regret taking through this unique and important memoir, dealing with social issues that unfortunately still plague us today.
September 10, 2021
Sophia's Return details an American expat woman's journey back to her roots in Greece to unravel the story of her parents divorce ... which is really the story of her own disrupted childhood. Raised by her wealthy father and a caring stepmother, nonetheless, Sophia was cut-off from her birth mother and witnessed the diminishing financial and social prospects of the mother she so dearly loved. Uncovering the details of this profoundly unfair divorce, Douidou-Giles discovers patriarchal forces at play. I was hoping for an aha moment: the bastard! But this was not to be--Sophia's style is earnest and reflective, not emotional. The back and forth interplay between the present and the past serves the narrative well. This is a meandering, reminiscent book with much description about old world Greece, the food, the clothes, the women and their lifestyles. It provides a window into the past, as well as a meditation on female powerlessness. Which, as we witness the plight of women Afghanistan and Texas, makes it a cautionary tale.
October 20, 2021
In the interest of full disclosure, the author sent me an ARC and asked me to write an honest review of the book.
This story has great promise and a plot that would make for an interesting work of fiction.
When her parents’ divorce, Sophia is only seven years old. She moves too, and is raised by her paternal grandmother for a period and then later, she is raised by her father’s second wife.
At this stage, Sophia's life is split between home and weekends spent with her mother, but this changes when as a teen she moves to the US. There, she completes her studies and later begins a career in child welfare.
Many years later, with her mother deceased, Sophia returns to Greece in search of answers. She wants firstly to find her mother's grave but also to learn more about the reasons behind her parent's divorce.
The story begins here, and is one that delves into the disparity of cultures between Greece where her mother was born and Turkey which was the birth place of her father.
Sophia's journey from this point, is one of self-discovery as well as a slow and often painful uncovering of history. Her quest is made all the more difficult when she meets resistance from authorities. Later she meets similar resistance from family members who though willing to meet with her, are hesitant to speak to her about her mother.
All of this raises more questions than it answers and believing that there is far more to the her mothers history than anyone is telling her, Sophia retains the services of an attorney who helps her discover a paper-trail of her mother. She spends endless hours delving into the documentation that is produced. What her investigation uncovers is a very different story from the one she had expected.
As Sophia slowly uncovers the reasons her mother abandoning her home, there is a palpable sense of her closing in on the truth and of inexorable change. I found this part of the book is particularly poignant. I also enjoyed how Sophia evoked her home with aplomb and her voice is particularly strong in these passages.
Sophia Kouidou-Giles writes with a distinctive style. The story is well told, though there was a degree of repetition throughout which I found distracting. Memoir of this nature is not my thing so I wasn't fully engaged in the story, but this will appeal to those who are advocates for truth telling.
This story has great promise and a plot that would make for an interesting work of fiction.
When her parents’ divorce, Sophia is only seven years old. She moves too, and is raised by her paternal grandmother for a period and then later, she is raised by her father’s second wife.
At this stage, Sophia's life is split between home and weekends spent with her mother, but this changes when as a teen she moves to the US. There, she completes her studies and later begins a career in child welfare.
Many years later, with her mother deceased, Sophia returns to Greece in search of answers. She wants firstly to find her mother's grave but also to learn more about the reasons behind her parent's divorce.
The story begins here, and is one that delves into the disparity of cultures between Greece where her mother was born and Turkey which was the birth place of her father.
Sophia's journey from this point, is one of self-discovery as well as a slow and often painful uncovering of history. Her quest is made all the more difficult when she meets resistance from authorities. Later she meets similar resistance from family members who though willing to meet with her, are hesitant to speak to her about her mother.
All of this raises more questions than it answers and believing that there is far more to the her mothers history than anyone is telling her, Sophia retains the services of an attorney who helps her discover a paper-trail of her mother. She spends endless hours delving into the documentation that is produced. What her investigation uncovers is a very different story from the one she had expected.
As Sophia slowly uncovers the reasons her mother abandoning her home, there is a palpable sense of her closing in on the truth and of inexorable change. I found this part of the book is particularly poignant. I also enjoyed how Sophia evoked her home with aplomb and her voice is particularly strong in these passages.
Sophia Kouidou-Giles writes with a distinctive style. The story is well told, though there was a degree of repetition throughout which I found distracting. Memoir of this nature is not my thing so I wasn't fully engaged in the story, but this will appeal to those who are advocates for truth telling.
October 12, 2020
Return to Thessaloniki
This review reflects my own opinion about a fantastic Greek book “Επιστροφή στη Θεσσαλονίκη” authored by Sophia Kouidou Giles. I had the pleasure to read it in my native Greek language. The book is a memoir of an intense life journey, starting early 1950 up to 2019. The last five years prior to publication the research for true evidence was more intensified. The well-crafted story offers a window to the general Greek life structure, culture and more. Particularly the author is trying to dissect from a child’s point of you, the influences that presented a detrimental impact on her birth family unit. I definitely admire the authors ability to unfold methodically, analytically and with great clarity factual events. Sophia did an excellent job conveying clearly the adversities of life. She did not shy to present the negative evidence. By altering chapters chronologically and shifting perspectives, she managed to present her different dominant female characters with their personal reality in a neutral and amazing balance.
The author’s natural and professionally acquired wisdom shines stoicism through out the book. This was the most positive element of the book for me as a reader. No bitterness or negativity. The vivid descriptions of the author’s home city of Thessaloniki, evoked a nostalgic feeling for my home land and beautifies the publication.
Reading each page of the book perked my interest for the next one and at the end I didn’t want it to finish. I predict that the English publication will be as good as the Greek one or even better. I cannot wait to read it, because I follow this author and I love her skillful writing. I highly recommend this book to every memoir lover or not.
This review reflects my own opinion about a fantastic Greek book “Επιστροφή στη Θεσσαλονίκη” authored by Sophia Kouidou Giles. I had the pleasure to read it in my native Greek language. The book is a memoir of an intense life journey, starting early 1950 up to 2019. The last five years prior to publication the research for true evidence was more intensified. The well-crafted story offers a window to the general Greek life structure, culture and more. Particularly the author is trying to dissect from a child’s point of you, the influences that presented a detrimental impact on her birth family unit. I definitely admire the authors ability to unfold methodically, analytically and with great clarity factual events. Sophia did an excellent job conveying clearly the adversities of life. She did not shy to present the negative evidence. By altering chapters chronologically and shifting perspectives, she managed to present her different dominant female characters with their personal reality in a neutral and amazing balance.
The author’s natural and professionally acquired wisdom shines stoicism through out the book. This was the most positive element of the book for me as a reader. No bitterness or negativity. The vivid descriptions of the author’s home city of Thessaloniki, evoked a nostalgic feeling for my home land and beautifies the publication.
Reading each page of the book perked my interest for the next one and at the end I didn’t want it to finish. I predict that the English publication will be as good as the Greek one or even better. I cannot wait to read it, because I follow this author and I love her skillful writing. I highly recommend this book to every memoir lover or not.
January 26, 2024
Sophia’s Return: Uncovering My Mother’s Past
Sophia’s Return is a beautifully crafted memoir of a child growing up in Greece in a family with traditional values yet full of secrets and truths kept hidden. Young Sophia was separated from her mother with no explanation, leaving her with a longing for closeness and to be seen by the adults around her.
Seeking to break free from a family she didn’t understand, Sophia moved to America to study and never returned to live in her homeland. As an adult, Sophia sought answers to the questions about her past that her family refused to provide. Sophia particularly longed to understand her mother, why her parents divorced, and why she was forced to live with her father and new stepmother, only visiting her mother for weekend visits.
This braided memoir moves back and forth between young Sophia and adult Sophia as her search takes her back to her hometown in Greece, and she begins to uncover lost truths. This book is a fascinating view into Greek culture, family systems, and a woman’s determination to understand a lifetime of truths withheld. This is a story of love, lovingly told.
Sophia’s Return is a beautifully crafted memoir of a child growing up in Greece in a family with traditional values yet full of secrets and truths kept hidden. Young Sophia was separated from her mother with no explanation, leaving her with a longing for closeness and to be seen by the adults around her.
Seeking to break free from a family she didn’t understand, Sophia moved to America to study and never returned to live in her homeland. As an adult, Sophia sought answers to the questions about her past that her family refused to provide. Sophia particularly longed to understand her mother, why her parents divorced, and why she was forced to live with her father and new stepmother, only visiting her mother for weekend visits.
This braided memoir moves back and forth between young Sophia and adult Sophia as her search takes her back to her hometown in Greece, and she begins to uncover lost truths. This book is a fascinating view into Greek culture, family systems, and a woman’s determination to understand a lifetime of truths withheld. This is a story of love, lovingly told.
July 22, 2022
Sophia Kouidou-Giles offers her reader a precious literary gift by sharing her journey of seeking answers to why her mother left her family home without saying goodbye when Sophia was only seven years old.
With her beautiful words, Kouidou-Giles takes her reader on a culture/history tour to 1950s and 1960s Greece. Decades later, she returns to Greece from her adoptive home in the U.S. to search for the hidden truth about her family. In the end, she discovers compassion and understanding for her mother, and a sense of identity for herself.
This book resonates with me, as I, too, yearn to learn the truths about my family and seek connection, understanding, and belonging with the people I love. I really appreciate Kouidou-Giles's sharing her experience with the world. What a generous gift!
April 28, 2022
Sophia is a very talented author and story teller. I enjoyed this dive into her history, the Greek culture, her ever complicated family relationships, and her back-and-forth between two worlds. I also appreciated the historical perspective. Having been to Greece, I could readily envision her playing with her peers in the alana. The scenes were quite palpable for me.
Because of the jumping forward and back in time, I got a tad confused. Some points appeared redundant. I wanted to learn more about the woman this author became, about her relationships and marriage, her child, and her own divorce. What insights did she gain about herself? These remain questions for me, yet I applaud a job very well done.
Sophia's Return will make you want to visit and/or re-visit Greece.
Because of the jumping forward and back in time, I got a tad confused. Some points appeared redundant. I wanted to learn more about the woman this author became, about her relationships and marriage, her child, and her own divorce. What insights did she gain about herself? These remain questions for me, yet I applaud a job very well done.
Sophia's Return will make you want to visit and/or re-visit Greece.
October 6, 2021
Sophia Kouidou-Gile’s search to uncover the circumstances of her parents’ divorce in 1950s Thessaloniki , Greece is quietly dramatic. Sorrow that began in childhood over the abrupt departure of her mother nags at her to understand what happened. Her journey of discovery is both tentative and determined and although the motivations of the deceased are never clear, she roughs in an approximation of truth that satisfies her. The patriarchal culture of her childhood brought tragedy to her mother, but she finds understanding as the path to acceptance and hope. Hers is an engaging story, well-told.
January 30, 2022
Sophia Kouidou-Giles’ beautifully written memoir about solving a family mystery is so engaging and compassionate, it was hard to put down. The author’s power of description invites the reader into her world and I found myself right beside her in sun-washed Thassaloniki, Greece as she tried to uncover the story of her parents’ divorce at a time—the 1950s—when women had little autonomy and very few rights in a marriage. This is a story about family secrets , searching for answers, but most of all about the unbreakable bond between mothers and daughters—five stars and three handkerchiefs.
November 1, 2024
Kouidou-Giles was born in Thessaloniki, Greece, nestled on the northern shores of the Aegean Sea. Doesn’t that sound like an ideal childhood? But wait, her parents divorced when she was six, and custody of her is awarded to her father, not her mother. This fact perplexes Sophia for most of her life until she digs through court records and discovers old-world traditions at play in her family. This is a memoir of discovering secrets from the past that set one free in the present. I enjoyed reading about Kouidou-Giles’ family and her Greek traditions.
November 17, 2021
In the Greek tradition of a hero's journey, Sophia's quest takes us through the ups and downs of a many layered dig into her family's history. Along the way we get a fascinating dose of Greek culture and post-WWII history, made all the more compelling by the way it affected the lives and psychology of the story's characters.
February 11, 2023
Sophia's Return is eloquent and heartbreaking. It uplifts and makes us question the pain endured throughout a lifetime. The author is candid about the details of her family and her descriptions of setting felt cinematic in nature. I was completely absorbed and lost in this author's tale. I heard the author has another book coming out, lucky me!!!
October 8, 2019
Όπως υπονοεί ο τίτλος του βιβλίου, «Επιστροφή στη Θεσσαλονίκη», που είναι γραμμένο στα Ελληνικά, η συγγραφέας, Σοφία Κουίδου-Τζάηλς, επιστρέφει στη γενέτειρά της, την αγαπημένη Θεσσαλονίκη, κάνοντας ένα προσωπικό ταξίδι στο παρελθόν για να βρει απαντήσεις που δεν της δόθηκαν από την οικογένειά της.
Ο πατέρας της ήταν ελληνικής καταγωγής και μετανάστευσε νέος μαζί με τους γονείς του από τη Μικρά Ασία στη Θεσσαλονίκη και η μητέρα της γεννήθηκε και μεγάλωσε στην Θεσσαλονίκη. Η κ. Κουϊδου-Τζάηλς ήταν το μοναχοπαίδι τους. Έζησε μια ευτυχισμένη και ξέγνοιαστη ζωή μέχρι να γίνει εφτά χρονών. Τότε οι γονείς της χώρισαν σε μια εποχή που τα διαζύγια ήταν σπάνια και δύσκολα στην Ελλάδα. Μετά το διαζύγιο τους έζησε με τον πατέρα της και την μητέρα του πατέρα της και τελικά με τη δεύτερη σύζυγο του και τον ετεροθαλή αδελφό της. Επισκέπτονταν τη μητέρα της τα Σαββατοκύριακα. Το διαζύγιο δεν συζητήθηκε ποτέ, ήταν θέμα ταμπού και όταν ρωτούσε δεν της δινόταν απαντήσεις. Τελείωσε το γυμνάσιο και ήρθε στις Ηνωμένες Πολιτείες, με υποτροφία Fulbright, για να συνεχίσει τις σπουδές της στην κοινωνική εργασία, το έργο της ζωής της.
Μετά τη συνταξιοδότησή της και μετά τον θάνατο της μητέρας της, οι ερωτήσεις που είχε σχετικά με το διαζύγιο των γονιών της την απασχόλησαν πάλι. Ποια ήταν η πραγματική αιτία του διαζυγίου τους; Τι ρόλο έπαιξε ο κάθε σύζυγος για το τελικό αποτέλεσμα; Τι ρόλο έπαιξαν οι πολιτιστικές και κοινωνικές διαφορές μεταξύ τους; Τι επιρροή είχε η μητέρα του πατέρα της; Δεν αγάπησε ποτέ τη νύφη της; Γιατί η αποκλειστική επιμέλεια του παιδιού δόθηκε στον πατέρα της και όχι στη μητέρα της όπως συνηθίζεται; Ποιοι άλλοι παράγοντες μπορεί να έπαιξαν ρόλο;
Ξεκινώντας με τις αναμνήσεις της παιδικής της ηλικίας και τα ερωτήματά της, επιστρέφει στη Θεσσαλονίκη για να βρει απαντήσεις. Ίσως οι στενοί συγγενείς της να της έδιναν κάποια εξήγηση. Ίσως τα αρχεία των δικαστηρίων (αν υπήρχαν) να έκαναν αποκαλύψεις.
Η συγγραφέας εναλλάσσει τα κεφάλαια στο βιβλίο της ανάμεσα στο παρελθόν και το παρόν, πράγμα που κάνει το κείμενο ενδιαφέρων. Διαβάζοντας ο αναγνώστης ζει την εικόνα από τα ήθη και έθιμα της εποχής του 1950. Είναι ένα βιβλίο που δεν θα το αφήσετε από τα χέρια σας μέχρι να δείτε τι απαντήσεις κατάφερε να βγάλει στην επιφάνεια η συγγραφέας που ίσως να βρήκε απαντήσεις, όπως και την ηρεμία της. Σας συνιστώ να το διαβάσετε.
As the title implies, ¨Επιστροφή Στη Θεσσαλονίκη¨(Return to Thessaloniki), is a book written in Greek by Sophia Kouidou-Giles, who writes about returning to her birthplace and beloved city, Thessaloniki, on a personal journey into the past, seeking answers that were never given to her by her family.
Born to a father of Greek descent who immigrated as a young person, together with his parents, from Asia Minor to Thessaloniki, and to a mother who was born and raised there. She was the only child of this union. She lived a happy and carefree life until her seventh year, when her parents divorced, at a time when divorce was rare and difficult to get in Greece. After the divorce she lived with her father and paternal grandmother and eventually with her father's second wife and stepbrother. She visited her mother on weekends. The divorce was never discussed, it was a taboo subject, and when she asked she was never given an answer. After high school she came to the United States, on a Fulbright scholarship, to pursue her studies in social work, her life's work.
Upon retiring and after her parents’ passing, her questions about the divorce resurfaced: what was the real cause for their divorce? What role did each spouse play for the outcome? What role did cultural and social differences between them play? What influence did her paternal grandmother have on her father? Was she never fond of her daughter-in-law? Why was sole custody of the child given to the father and not her mother, as is customary? What other factors might have been the cause?
Armed with her childhood memories, her questions, she returns to Thessaloniki for answers. Will her tight-lip relatives shed any light? Perhaps the court archives (if any can be found) reveal any truths?
The author alternates the chapters in her book between past and present, which makes an interesting reading. The book gives us a flavor of the norms and mores of the 1950s Greece. It's a book you won't want to put down to get to the answers. Did the adult find her answers and peace of mind? I recommend you read her book.
Ο πατέρας της ήταν ελληνικής καταγωγής και μετανάστευσε νέος μαζί με τους γονείς του από τη Μικρά Ασία στη Θεσσαλονίκη και η μητέρα της γεννήθηκε και μεγάλωσε στην Θεσσαλονίκη. Η κ. Κουϊδου-Τζάηλς ήταν το μοναχοπαίδι τους. Έζησε μια ευτυχισμένη και ξέγνοιαστη ζωή μέχρι να γίνει εφτά χρονών. Τότε οι γονείς της χώρισαν σε μια εποχή που τα διαζύγια ήταν σπάνια και δύσκολα στην Ελλάδα. Μετά το διαζύγιο τους έζησε με τον πατέρα της και την μητέρα του πατέρα της και τελικά με τη δεύτερη σύζυγο του και τον ετεροθαλή αδελφό της. Επισκέπτονταν τη μητέρα της τα Σαββατοκύριακα. Το διαζύγιο δεν συζητήθηκε ποτέ, ήταν θέμα ταμπού και όταν ρωτούσε δεν της δινόταν απαντήσεις. Τελείωσε το γυμνάσιο και ήρθε στις Ηνωμένες Πολιτείες, με υποτροφία Fulbright, για να συνεχίσει τις σπουδές της στην κοινωνική εργασία, το έργο της ζωής της.
Μετά τη συνταξιοδότησή της και μετά τον θάνατο της μητέρας της, οι ερωτήσεις που είχε σχετικά με το διαζύγιο των γονιών της την απασχόλησαν πάλι. Ποια ήταν η πραγματική αιτία του διαζυγίου τους; Τι ρόλο έπαιξε ο κάθε σύζυγος για το τελικό αποτέλεσμα; Τι ρόλο έπαιξαν οι πολιτιστικές και κοινωνικές διαφορές μεταξύ τους; Τι επιρροή είχε η μητέρα του πατέρα της; Δεν αγάπησε ποτέ τη νύφη της; Γιατί η αποκλειστική επιμέλεια του παιδιού δόθηκε στον πατέρα της και όχι στη μητέρα της όπως συνηθίζεται; Ποιοι άλλοι παράγοντες μπορεί να έπαιξαν ρόλο;
Ξεκινώντας με τις αναμνήσεις της παιδικής της ηλικίας και τα ερωτήματά της, επιστρέφει στη Θεσσαλονίκη για να βρει απαντήσεις. Ίσως οι στενοί συγγενείς της να της έδιναν κάποια εξήγηση. Ίσως τα αρχεία των δικαστηρίων (αν υπήρχαν) να έκαναν αποκαλύψεις.
Η συγγραφέας εναλλάσσει τα κεφάλαια στο βιβλίο της ανάμεσα στο παρελθόν και το παρόν, πράγμα που κάνει το κείμενο ενδιαφέρων. Διαβάζοντας ο αναγνώστης ζει την εικόνα από τα ήθη και έθιμα της εποχής του 1950. Είναι ένα βιβλίο που δεν θα το αφήσετε από τα χέρια σας μέχρι να δείτε τι απαντήσεις κατάφερε να βγάλει στην επιφάνεια η συγγραφέας που ίσως να βρήκε απαντήσεις, όπως και την ηρεμία της. Σας συνιστώ να το διαβάσετε.
As the title implies, ¨Επιστροφή Στη Θεσσαλονίκη¨(Return to Thessaloniki), is a book written in Greek by Sophia Kouidou-Giles, who writes about returning to her birthplace and beloved city, Thessaloniki, on a personal journey into the past, seeking answers that were never given to her by her family.
Born to a father of Greek descent who immigrated as a young person, together with his parents, from Asia Minor to Thessaloniki, and to a mother who was born and raised there. She was the only child of this union. She lived a happy and carefree life until her seventh year, when her parents divorced, at a time when divorce was rare and difficult to get in Greece. After the divorce she lived with her father and paternal grandmother and eventually with her father's second wife and stepbrother. She visited her mother on weekends. The divorce was never discussed, it was a taboo subject, and when she asked she was never given an answer. After high school she came to the United States, on a Fulbright scholarship, to pursue her studies in social work, her life's work.
Upon retiring and after her parents’ passing, her questions about the divorce resurfaced: what was the real cause for their divorce? What role did each spouse play for the outcome? What role did cultural and social differences between them play? What influence did her paternal grandmother have on her father? Was she never fond of her daughter-in-law? Why was sole custody of the child given to the father and not her mother, as is customary? What other factors might have been the cause?
Armed with her childhood memories, her questions, she returns to Thessaloniki for answers. Will her tight-lip relatives shed any light? Perhaps the court archives (if any can be found) reveal any truths?
The author alternates the chapters in her book between past and present, which makes an interesting reading. The book gives us a flavor of the norms and mores of the 1950s Greece. It's a book you won't want to put down to get to the answers. Did the adult find her answers and peace of mind? I recommend you read her book.
July 3, 2019
Η εξιστόρηση στην Επιστροφή Στην Θεσσαλονίκη ξεδιπλώνεται με την επιδέξια γραφή της συγγραφέως σαν χρονικό μιας Πόλης, μιας Εποχής και μιας Οικογένειας, της οικογένειας Ροίδη και των γυναικών της από γιαγιά ως εγγονή…
Ξετυλίγοντας την ιστορία ενός σπάνιου για την εποχή διαζυγίου, η Επιστροφή Στην Θεσσαλονίκη είναι μια ακτινογραφία της κοινωνικής ζωής των γυναικών, της ανατροφής τους και της εξέλιξης της θέσης τους μέσα στον γάμο που συχνά ξεκινούσε με μια οικονομική συναλλαγή, την προίκα...
Η αγάπη της για την πόλη που έζησε και αγάπησε, την Θεσσαλονίκη, μας βοηθούν να την γνωρίσουμε μέσα από τα μάτια της πολλές φορές καταγράφοντας και αποθανατίζοντας εικόνες που έχουν για πάντα χαθεί. Γειτονιές, συνήθειες, μυρωδιές, γλωσσικά ιδιώματα, αλάνες που τρέχουν ξένοιαστα τα παιδιά, επαγγέλματα, καθημερινότητα, μα και πολιτικά γεγονότα, ήθη, νομοθεσίες και κοινωνικό καθεστώς εμπλουτίζουν με απολαυστικά και πολύτιμα στοιχεία το λογοτεχνικό της δημιούργημα.
Μα το πιο πολύτιμο στοιχείο του για μας ίσως τους ενήλικους αναγνώστες είναι η εξαιρετική επιτυχία του να αποτυπώσει με τόση ευαισθησία και ενσυναίσθηση την ματιά του μικρού παιδιού. Ας την ακούσουμε...
Return to Thessaloniki unfolds, as the author chronicles the story of a family and a period of time, the lives of the Roidis family and its women, from grandmother to grandchild…
The author’s love for Thessaloniki, the city she grew up in and adores gives us an inside view through her eyes as she frequently records and immortalizes an era that is lost forever. Neighborhoods, traditions, smells, a local dialect, playgrounds where children run carefree, trades, everyday life, and political events, rituals, laws and social standards enrich this literary creation with delightful and valuable descriptions.
But perhaps the most valuable element for the adult reader is the fine sensitivity with which she captures the child's thoughts, the author’s great empathy and insight. Let us hear it ...
Ξετυλίγοντας την ιστορία ενός σπάνιου για την εποχή διαζυγίου, η Επιστροφή Στην Θεσσαλονίκη είναι μια ακτινογραφία της κοινωνικής ζωής των γυναικών, της ανατροφής τους και της εξέλιξης της θέσης τους μέσα στον γάμο που συχνά ξεκινούσε με μια οικονομική συναλλαγή, την προίκα...
Η αγάπη της για την πόλη που έζησε και αγάπησε, την Θεσσαλονίκη, μας βοηθούν να την γνωρίσουμε μέσα από τα μάτια της πολλές φορές καταγράφοντας και αποθανατίζοντας εικόνες που έχουν για πάντα χαθεί. Γειτονιές, συνήθειες, μυρωδιές, γλωσσικά ιδιώματα, αλάνες που τρέχουν ξένοιαστα τα παιδιά, επαγγέλματα, καθημερινότητα, μα και πολιτικά γεγονότα, ήθη, νομοθεσίες και κοινωνικό καθεστώς εμπλουτίζουν με απολαυστικά και πολύτιμα στοιχεία το λογοτεχνικό της δημιούργημα.
Μα το πιο πολύτιμο στοιχείο του για μας ίσως τους ενήλικους αναγνώστες είναι η εξαιρετική επιτυχία του να αποτυπώσει με τόση ευαισθησία και ενσυναίσθηση την ματιά του μικρού παιδιού. Ας την ακούσουμε...
Return to Thessaloniki unfolds, as the author chronicles the story of a family and a period of time, the lives of the Roidis family and its women, from grandmother to grandchild…
The author’s love for Thessaloniki, the city she grew up in and adores gives us an inside view through her eyes as she frequently records and immortalizes an era that is lost forever. Neighborhoods, traditions, smells, a local dialect, playgrounds where children run carefree, trades, everyday life, and political events, rituals, laws and social standards enrich this literary creation with delightful and valuable descriptions.
But perhaps the most valuable element for the adult reader is the fine sensitivity with which she captures the child's thoughts, the author’s great empathy and insight. Let us hear it ...
October 4, 2023
A poignant, evocative, and healing Greek girl tragedy
In this evocative memoir, a young Greek child’s mother leaves her with her father with no explanation of divorce, and the child as an adult seeks answers that no adult would give her then. The child’s hurt and bewilderment despite being well cared for in her father’s house, the continuing hole in her heart as an American adult wondering why her mother left, and her search for the answers in Greece as an older adult make up the rotating chapters of this book. Kouidou-Giles gives us well-textured glimpses of daily life in Greece, showing the emotional undercurrents of traditional expectations and laws that disadvantaged women and children before views and laws changed—expectations that were enforced by men and older grandmothers. This journey of a young girl’s heart and mind is poignant, impressively persistent, and ultimately successful—understanding the lives of her mother and herself in their own eras leads her to healing and forgiveness.
In this evocative memoir, a young Greek child’s mother leaves her with her father with no explanation of divorce, and the child as an adult seeks answers that no adult would give her then. The child’s hurt and bewilderment despite being well cared for in her father’s house, the continuing hole in her heart as an American adult wondering why her mother left, and her search for the answers in Greece as an older adult make up the rotating chapters of this book. Kouidou-Giles gives us well-textured glimpses of daily life in Greece, showing the emotional undercurrents of traditional expectations and laws that disadvantaged women and children before views and laws changed—expectations that were enforced by men and older grandmothers. This journey of a young girl’s heart and mind is poignant, impressively persistent, and ultimately successful—understanding the lives of her mother and herself in their own eras leads her to healing and forgiveness.
Displaying 1 - 23 of 23 reviews