Aphrodite's Island - Hilary Green

In 1955, Cyprus is torn apart by EOKA, and Ariadne's family is deeply involved, but her heart skips the divide on seeing the young officer, Stephen Allenby, when her house is searched by the British military. They have an affair, but when it becomes known, he is sent home. In 1974, Stephen exists in a strained marriage and miserable job, but resurgence of EOKA activity affords him the opportunity to return to the island, but with his wife and young daughter in tow, where he searches for remembrances of his youth. In 1998, his daughter, Cressida, is now 36 and at a crossroads: her mother has died and her relationship has failed. She travels to Northern Cyprus to seek answers to the pain-filled memories of her father's disappearance. Two islands, two generations, and the duality of lovers. Aphrodite's Island gives us the eternal cycle of birth, procreation, death, and regeneration through blood sacrifice.