Sophia's Return: Uncovering My Mother's Past

Description

After her parents' divorce, seven-year-old Sophia is raised by her paternal grandmother and, later, her father's second wife. She visits her mother on weekends until she finishes her high school, after which she moves to the US to complete her post-secondary studies and launch a career in child welfare. Decades later, Sophia travels back to Greece, determined to find her mother's grave and finally learn about the reasons for her parents' divorce. As she digs, she begins to realize how clashing cultures between her Greek-born mother and her father's early years in Turkey wreaked havoc on the marriage. Determined to unlock the true story, she interviews family members, all of whom are sympathetic but reluctant to disclose information. Finally, she hires an attorney and resorts to document searching-and uncovers a story she never knew existed. Written with illuminating insights and a mature understanding of what forced her mother's decision to abandon their home, Sophia's compassionate, authentic recounting of her journey will encourage those who search for the truth to persist in seeking answers to life's unanswered questions.

Sophia Kouidou-Giles was born in Thessaloniki, Greece and university educated in the US. She holds a bachelor's degree in psychology and a master's in social work. In her long career in child welfare career, she served as a practitioner, educator, researcher and administrator. Kouidou-Giles has published articles in Greek and English professional journals with a focus on services to abused/neglected children. More recently, her focus has shifted to writing non-fiction and poetry. Her work has appeared in Voices, Persimmon Tree, Assay, The Raven's Perch, The Time Collection, The Blue Nib (where she has a byline), and The Writers and Readers' Magazine. Her poetry chapbook is Transitions and Passages. Her memoir, (Return to Thessaloniki), was published in Greece in 2019. She currently lives in Seattle, Washington.

2021 American Writing Awards Winner in Best Cover Design: Non-Fiction 2021 American Writing Awards Finalist in Autobiography/Memoir "A moving story of a daughter seeking to understand her mother's choices." -KIRKUS REVIEWS "The mystery of a mother's loss and a daughter's search to reclaim her drive this engaging memoir. Family secrets, conflicting Old and New World traditions, and poignant scenes of intergenerational and cultural struggles bring to life a vivid portrait of Greece. For readers discovering their ancestral roots, this is a must- read; lively, very moving, and inspiring." -BRENDA PETERSON, author of Your Life is a Book "Sophia Kouidou-Giles is a masterful storyteller. Sophia's Return takes us into a compelling tale of reclaiming the past that speaks profoundly to our need to make sense of our lives' central mysteries. Nuanced, rich, and evocative, it will keep you up reading late into the night." -THEO PAULINE NESTOR, author of Writing Is My Drink "A deeply considered investigation of family dynamics and the secrets that in many families go unchallenged but in this one find resolution through tenacity and eventual forgiveness." -JEAN GILBERTSON, author of Dancing on the Whisper of God "Sophia Kouidou-Giles has a social scientist's eye for family systems and a writer's eye for secrets therein. She exhumes the past with compassion and curiosity, bringing to fore the atmospheric history of Greece . . . Sophia's Return is a lyrical story and beautiful read, full of sensory detail and cultural richness." -RENEE E. D'AOUST, author of Body of a Dancer "Sophia's Return will draw you in. It'll take you back in time. It reminds us the effects of secret-keeping, and that in our quest to protect children, sometimes we create more problems. After reading this story, I felt like Sophia was an old friend. I experienced her highs and lows with her. This book will tug at your heartstrings and make you rethink keeping family secrets. I can't wait for her next book." -MARIA A. KARAMITSOS, founder of WindyCity Greek "The author's power of description invites the reader into her world and I found myself right beside her in sun-washed Thessaloniki, Greece, as she tried to uncover the story of her parents' divorce at a time-the 1950s-when women had little autonomy and very few rights in a marriage. This is a story about family secrets, searching for answers, but most of all, about the unbreakable bond between mothers and daughters-five stars, and three handkerchiefs." -DEBORAH K. SHEPHERD, author of So Happy Together "The author's determination to better understand what really happened between her parents and the forces that shaped them takes her back to her childhood home in Greece and prompts a deep dive into patriarchal legal and social systems." -HEATHER DIAMOND, author of Rabbit in the Moon "A memoir that has it all. Lush and vivid descriptions a Greek childhood, the emotional impacts of divorce on a child, the journey to rediscover one's roots and family secrets . . . all within beautifully written pages. Sophia made me feel like I was with her along every step of her journey of discovery. I could smell the smells of Greek food and hear the music playing in my head." -MELISSA HARRIS, author of One Pound, Twelve Ounces