Book cover design by: Emanuele Ragnisco

West Coast Hellenic Book Club:

The Jasmine Isle by Ioanna Karystiani, trans. Michael Eleftheriou

(Europa Editions, 2006)

Discussion led by Professor Sharon Gerstel, Director, UCLA SNF Hellenic Center and Dr. Eirini Kotsovili, Senior Lecturer, Global Humanities at Simon Fraser University

Saturday, March 14, 2026
10 A.M. Los Angeles / 8 P.M. Greece
Via Zoom

RSVP Here

From the Publisher:

Set on the Greek island of Andros during the first half of the 20th century, Karystiani’s first novel to be translated into English centers on Orsa Saltaferou, a jovial teenager who falls in love with charming and sensual fisherman Spyros Maltambes. But when the time comes to settle down, her imperious mother, Mina, decides that Spyros is not the man for her daughter and arranges a marriage to the richer Nikos Vatokouzis, also a fisherman. Without a word of protest, Orsa resigns herself to her fate-until she returns from her honeymoon to find her younger sister, Mosca, married to Spyros. Further intensifying emotions, the sisters and their respective husbands must live with just a staircase between them. And because both men are sailors (as is the sisters’ father), they often travel for long stretches and leave the sisters-along with Mina and many other women on the island-to look after the homes, raise their children and chat, trying to gather news about their husbands and, when it comes, the war. With a talent for crafting graceful narration and poignant dialogue, Karystiani presents a praiseworthy novel of a life caught between love and loss.

About the Author:

Ioanna Karystiani was born on the island of Crete, Greece, in the town of Chania and now lives in Athens. Her literary debut came with the collection of short stories, I kyria Kataki (Ms. Kataki). She has since written three novels, all of which have been translated into several languages. She wrote the screenplay for The Brides, directed by Pandelis Vulgaris and produced by Martin Scorsese, and Estrella mi vida, directed by Costa Gavras. She received the Greek state prize for literature and the Athenian Academy prize for her first novel, and the Diavaso literature prize for her second.

This program is made possible thanks to the Stavros Niarchos Foundation (SNF).

Available to borrow digitally for free on the Internet Archive at the link below:

https://archive.org/details/jasmineisle0000kary/mode/2up