It’s unusual to feel the sun on your back when you read a
book indoors, but this is exactly what I felt reading Sun Sea and Secrets. I
also felt very hungry as May Panayi described all the wonderful Greek food in
great (maybe a bit too much)detail. This is a story about a woman coming to a Greek
island hoping to discover more about her mother who died when she was only
five. She hopes to discover what happened during the summer when her English mother
worked in a Greek tavern and find out who her father is. Ella retraces her
mother’s footsteps and in doing so, falls in love with the island, its people,
the cats and its wonderful food. I particularly enjoyed the anecdotes about the
cats; anyone who has visited Greece will have been affected by the legion of scrawny
little cats desperate for food. I don’t think I was the only sunburned tourist
getting funny looks from the checkout girl when I went into the supermarket to
buy cat food. I could hear her think, “do British people eat cat food?’
This is a very warm portrait of a visit to Greece and would
make an excellent travel companion as it teaches some basic Greek and
introduces the many dishes on offer. Feel good sunny read.
