Let Me Explain You: A NovelA powerful debut novel about a Greek American family and its enigmatic patriarch from a riveting new voice in contemporary literature. Stavros Stavros Mavrakis, Greek immigrant and proud owner of the Gala Diner, believes he has just ten days to live. As he prepares for his final hours, he sends a scathing email to his ex-wife and three grown daughters, outlining his wishes for how they each might better live their lives. With varying degrees of laughter and scorn, his family and friends dismiss his behavior as nothing more than a plea for attention, but when Stavros disappears, those closest to him are forced to confront the possibility of his death. A vibrant tour de force that races to a surprising conclusion, Let Me Explain You is told from multiple perspectives: Stavros Stavros, brimming with pride and cursing in broken English; his eldest daughter Stavroula, a talented chef in love with her boss’s daughter; her sister, the wounded but resilient Litza; and many other voices who compose a veritable Greek chorus. By turns hilarious and deeply moving, this multigenerational novel delivers a heartfelt meditation on the power of storytelling and family, the relationship between fathers and daughters, and also the complex bond of sisterhood. Annie Liontas explores our origins and family myths, hunger and what feeds us, reinvention and forgiveness. |
Contents
Section 1 | 7 |
Section 2 | 13 |
Section 3 | 29 |
Section 4 | 39 |
Section 5 | 53 |
Section 6 | 59 |
Section 7 | 77 |
Section 8 | 83 |
Section 19 | 180 |
Section 20 | 216 |
Section 21 | 234 |
Section 22 | 248 |
Section 23 | 257 |
Section 24 | 281 |
Section 25 | 285 |
Section 26 | 293 |
Section 9 | 92 |
Section 10 | 99 |
Section 11 | 109 |
Section 12 | 116 |
Section 13 | 121 |
Section 14 | 129 |
Section 15 | 135 |
Section 16 | 147 |
Section 17 | 160 |
Section 18 | 164 |
Section 27 | 303 |
Section 28 | 314 |
Section 29 | 323 |
Section 30 | 329 |
Section 31 | 331 |
Section 32 | 336 |
Section 33 | 339 |
Section 34 | 341 |
Section 35 | 343 |
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Common terms and phrases
America Angelos arms asked avgolemono baby blackberries called Carol chicken cigarette coffee coming cook Crete crying daughter Dear Dear Dad death Dina Dina's diner dolmades door drachma eggs everything eyes face Facebook father feel felt fingers fucking galaktoboureko girls give glass goat going Greece Greek Greek coffee hair hands Hero July kafenia Katerina kitchen knife koukla kri-kri Last Supper laughed legs letter Litza live look Marina meant menu Mihalis Mother mouth Nescafé never night nodded Onus ouzo Papous pappas picked pocket pulled pushed realized Rhonda roula Ruby salt sister skin smell smiled someone Starbucks stared Stav Stavros Stavros Mavrakis Stavros's Stavroula knew stopped talk tell thing thought told took tsikoudia turned waiting walk watched wife woman Yannis