Searching for Persephone [B1466]

2022 PB self-published, debut novel by a Victoria, BC author, in excellent condition. Self-doubting twenty-four-year-old Violet is shaken to the core by the sudden loss of her best friend, Persephone. Hoping to draw her out of a deep depression, her mother sends her to Crete, the Greek island she herself fled as a teenager. As Violet slowly heals, she strikes up an unexpected romance and begins to make plans for the future. But when the pandemic hits, her world is once again dismantled. Searching for Persephone is a story of self-discovery and redemption in the midst of loss and defeat. Drawing on Greek myths, fairy folklore and quantum physics, the book explores themes of healing, cultural and personal identity, and the nature of perception and reality.

From the few and enthusiastic Amazon/GoodReads reviews: "What a wonderful novel. As someone from the PNW, I found the Vancouver scenes and events very intriguing. As someone who also would love to go to Greece, I can only imagine they were written with the same amount of realism and now I am all the more excited to plan a visit! Learning a bit of Greek here and there as well, I tried to translate some of the phrases (with mixed success) before checking the footnotes. What a beautiful, but also emotionally raw, and at the same time healing, book."; "A real page turner and a perfect companion for a Greek vacation."; "An absorbing first novel. As the main characters navigate life's unexpected challenges, a growing sense of despair is interwoven with specks of hope symbolized by delicious Greek food, Cretan sunshine and many meditative swims - to name a few. Despite some of the dark themes explored, the prevailing message is to never give up, making this a very enjoyable read."; "Searching for Persephone is an epic and enchanting novel. I quickly became enmeshed in its characters and locations, and was taken on a journey spanning decades and crossing continents. The scenery, customs and culinary delicacies of Crete are still fresh in my mind despite having finished the book months ago. I eagerly await the author's next novel."