Novel 'To Vouni' by Louiza Papaloizou is this year's Cypriot recommendation as part of the Readers of Europe campaign, run by the Library of the Council of the European Union. Every year the Permanent Representations of the 27 member states in Brussels are invited to recommend books from their countries to read over the summer. For 2023, Permanent Representations have been asked to recommend books by female authors. The book selected this year has received the National Prize for Fiction in Cyprus for 2020 editions, and also was one of the books awarded with the 2021 State Novel Prize in Greece. As noted in a press release by the Council Library, the novel is set in a remote area of Cyprus and consists of three parts, one for each of its main characters: Xenis, Kori and the Swede. Each part differs linguistically, with parts written in Greek and in Cypriot dialect. The narrators speak with 'three different voices, three different outlooks' and are all connected by the mountain. The author examines the psychology of Cypriot life in the 20th century, starting from the 1970s and going back to the late 1920s. Papaloizou explores concepts of identity, memory and alienation, and among other historical themes touches on the history of the labour movement and the silence of the generation before and after the country's partition. Louiza Papaloizou was born in 1972 and grew up in Limassol. She studied in England and later in New York, where she lived for eleven years. Her book of short stories Apeiloumena Eidi (2010) won her National Prize for Literature for a first-time author. In 2020, the Cypriot recommendation was '??e??e??? p???????µ????' (Free Besieged) by Andreas Georgiades-Kyproleon. The 2021 recommendation was '??a ???assa ??' ??a? ?a???' (A sea upon a time) by Loucas Fourlas. The 2022 recommendation was '? e??? t?? ?a???a?' (Marina's wish) by Alexia Papachristoforou and Effie Lada.

Source: Cyprus News Agency