When The Cypress Whispers

Daphne is finally living her American Dream. . . too bad she’s been sleepwalking through life. The daughter of Greek immigrants, she’s felt trapped between old traditions and the never-ending work of building a new life in New York City. And she’s never felt like she quite fits in in either world. But summers with her grandmother on Erikousa, a magical island off the coast of Greece, are her happiest memories.

Together she and her Yia-yia cooked, laughed, and talked, her grandmother sharing the ancient myths that give shape to their culture. Yia-yia could always see deep into Daphne’s heart, even from afar during their winters apart or the recent, difficult years that kept Daphne from returning to Erikousa. Daphne’s young husband died in a car accident, leaving her with an inconsolable baby and stacks of bills. She immersed herself in work to push aside her grief, eventually stepping out from the shadow of her family’s diner to open her own Greek restaurant. She’s now an acclaimed chef about to marry her wealthy and powerful fiancé. It’s her dream come true, except something is terribly wrong. Only Daphne doesn’t know it yet.

One person can see through the storybook perfection of Daphne’s new life-the one person who, despite the miles between them, can always read Daphne’s deepest thoughts and hear her secret, silent prayers. That one person is Daphne’s beloved Yia-yia, and she can hear her Yia-yia calling to her to return to Erikousa.
When Daphne and her young daughter, Evie, arrive in Erikousa ahead of Daphne’s wedding, nothing is the way she wants it to be. Her grandmother is old and frail, and, Daphne fears, losing hold of reality. But Yia-yia has plans of her own. She has brought Daphne home to help her granddaughter one last time: to teach her that she is meant for greater things, that security is not the same as love, that her life can be filled with meaning again.

On a lush Greek island, myths, magic, and a colorful cast of mortals come together to call Daphne home. Will Daphne truly learn the lessons her Yia-yia is trying desperately to teach her? And will she come to understand the history of her grandmother’s life on the island, and the bravery and loyalty she showed while under siege during World War II WHEN THE CYPRESS WHISPERS is a beautiful debut novel about love and family, set against the gorgeous island landscape of Erikousa.