Product Description

This book is the story of Emma Tennant's parent's house, Rovinia, set above the bay in Corfu where legend has it Ulysses was shipwrecked and found by Nausicaa, daughter of King Alcinous. It is also the story of people like Maria, a miraculous cook and the presiding spirit of the house, and her husband, Thodoros, and of the inhabitants of the local village, high on the hill above the bay. Full of color and contrast, A House in Corfu shows the huge changes in island life since the time of the Tennants' arrival, and celebrates, equally, the joy of belonging to a timeless world: the world of vine, olive, and sea.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #647536 in Books
• Published on: 2003-01-21
• Original language: English
• Binding: Paperback
• 224 pages

From Publishers Weekly
Tennant, a London-based author (Sylvia and Ted), offers a delightful memoir of the years she spent visiting her parents' home on the Greek island of Corfu. During a vacation, Tennant's parents, then in late middle-age, became captivated by a remote area on the West Coast of the island. They bought a parcel of land above the bay where Odysseus is said to have been shipwrecked and built Rovinia, a house inaccessible by road; during the winters, rough waters made it impossible to reach the nearest harbor by boat. But isolation was precisely what her mother and father craved. Originally Rovinia was conceived as a vacation home, but in 1965, Tennant's parents gave up their London home and moved to Corfu permanently. Tennant details the problems with the actual construction of the house and the difficulties in securing an adequate water supply. As a frequent visitor, Tennant had her own room, and she came to know the island intimately. She eloquently renders the stark beauty of the landscape, the seductive, treacherous sea, the delicious cuisine (the family employed a local cook) and her family's friendships with local residents whose customs the newcomers came to understand and respect. Steeped in myth, Corfu remained virtually untouched for generations. On later visits, Tennant observed the changes wrought by the Greek military coup and increased tourism. Tennant's father died on Corfu in 1983, but Rovinia is still a beloved refuge for family members. This account of an alternative lifestyle undertaken before modern pop culture had reached all corners of the earth will appeal to travelers, expatriates and their admirers. Photos not seen by PW.

Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information, Inc.

From Library Journal
How the popular novelist's parents built a house in Rovinia, above the bay in Corfu where Ulysses was reputedly shipwrecked.
Copyright 2001 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Booklist
Exercise caution when reading this book--it's likely to induce a serious longing to hop on the next flight to Greece. British novelist Tennant's parents succumbed when, taking a Greek island cruise in the early 1960s, they impulsively decided to buy some land on Corfu and build a house. Tennant relays the challenges--primitive building methods, brackish water, the islanders' relaxed sense of time--but these turn out to be minor inconveniences compared to the sheer beauty of the place. Eventually the new home, called Rovinia, takes shape, presided over by Corfiots Maria and Theodoros and providing an escape from England's stresses and bad weather. As the years pass, the island changes: electricity, hotels on the beach, and fewer donkeys and more cars. But the olives still have to be harvested; feasts and milestones are still celebrated in the old way; the sun and the food are still glorious. Tennant expertly captures the intoxicating sights, tastes, and smells. Try this one out with readers who enjoyed Frances Mayes' Under the Tuscan Sun (1997). Mary Ellen Quinn
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

Customer Reviews

A not-so -great book on a Greek island
I enjoy reading books on Greece so I buy a lot of them. This one was a disappointment. I have to agree with the reviewer (above) who says it is a waste of time. It is one of those books that lament the advent of mass tourism and infrastructure development, and I suppose these inevitable changes deserve lamenting in several senses, but other writers have done it so much better. Maybe the first and last chapters could be recommended but the rest is boring. None of the characters come alive and none of the real issues they face are made as clear as they should be. All the people (tourists and locals) seem to do is drive around looking at the mountains and eat... and they all eat too much.

A House In Corfu
A House In Corfu made me long to go at once and savour the tastes, smells and colours so wonderfully described in Emma Tennant's book. Her tales of locals, family and the glorious blue sky and sea had me wanting more as soon as I finished it.

A House in Corfu
I was amazed by the negative review another reader gave this lovely book. I would guess that most of us who like to read about a life spent in the sun, do not expect, or want, an action-packed plot! The whole point of living a Meditteranean idyll, where one day slips lazily into another, is that not a lot happens. Or not the kind of things that we would all hate to confront in real life, such as police car chases, broken hearts, or other major dramas. What we want is to be transported to another world and to imagine ourselves there. This book is about being happy - never easy to portray, but Emma Tennant has succeeded. It made me feel a great deal happier than I was before I picked it up. It is also beautifully written.