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The Women's Coffee Shop
Angelou the firebrand has opened a coffee shop for women, where they can gather to drink and gossip like the men. These days, the hot topic of conversation is a macabre Angelou has just discovered her close friend Avraam Salih, shadow theatre master extraordinary, dead of a knife wound outside his house. Who killed him? Tensions between Christians and Moslems are high, and the dead man was of mixed parentage - could it have been a political murder? He also led a complex life - might the motive have been passion, money, professional envy? Angelou has some ideas, and she and the women of the coffee shop swing into action.....This offbeat whodunit will keep you turning the pages and entertain you with a vivid cast of unforgettable characters.
- GenresFiction
238 pages, Paperback
First published September 19, 2012
29 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
August 1, 2024
The Women's Coffee Shop by Andriana Ierodiaconou was my read for Cyprus. It was oddly enjoyable. I am not very informed about Cyprus, but why is it a separate country, when the nearby Rhodes and Crete are not? I mean, go Cyprus, but I would be interested in the history, since it is intertwined in my mind with Greece historically.
The protagonist is Angelou, who decides she is going to open a coffee shop only for women, similar to how men have their spaces. It becomes hugely popular very quickly, especially when Angelou begins to sell groceries and other household items. When the Muslim - Christian riots break out during the call for independence, this provides a space for the women to formulate their own opinions independent of the men. It is during this unstable time that most of the action takes place.
The villain of the piece is Hadjimbey, the local rich man and completely devoid of any positive behaviour. When his beloved daughter falls in love with a poor Muslim man, she is forever dead to him. The couple gives birth to a boy called Avraam Salih, around whom much of the latter part of the story concentrates. There is a lot of play around his being of both Christian and Muslim origin.
The story starts off very slow, almost boring, then picks up pace. Avraam Salih is murdered, but the mystery isn't really why he is murdered, because the author provides multiple resolutions that could have happened at the end. The event is used to build a whole narrative about religious unity, development at the cost of nature and traditional ways of life, women's rights, and traditional arts that are going out of vogue.
I found this an interesting peek into Cypriot history and culture. The story got a bit repetitive in parts and some of the characters were basically cartoons, but I enjoyed the book thoroughly.
The protagonist is Angelou, who decides she is going to open a coffee shop only for women, similar to how men have their spaces. It becomes hugely popular very quickly, especially when Angelou begins to sell groceries and other household items. When the Muslim - Christian riots break out during the call for independence, this provides a space for the women to formulate their own opinions independent of the men. It is during this unstable time that most of the action takes place.
The villain of the piece is Hadjimbey, the local rich man and completely devoid of any positive behaviour. When his beloved daughter falls in love with a poor Muslim man, she is forever dead to him. The couple gives birth to a boy called Avraam Salih, around whom much of the latter part of the story concentrates. There is a lot of play around his being of both Christian and Muslim origin.
The story starts off very slow, almost boring, then picks up pace. Avraam Salih is murdered, but the mystery isn't really why he is murdered, because the author provides multiple resolutions that could have happened at the end. The event is used to build a whole narrative about religious unity, development at the cost of nature and traditional ways of life, women's rights, and traditional arts that are going out of vogue.
I found this an interesting peek into Cypriot history and culture. The story got a bit repetitive in parts and some of the characters were basically cartoons, but I enjoyed the book thoroughly.
December 9, 2021
Angelou is a single woman in Cyprus who runs a "coffee shop" for women. The story starts with the death of her friend, Avraam Salih, a man born to a Christian and a Muslim and thus widely ostracized on the island.
I like that the author is Cypriot but the contents are better suited to a short story. Lines and scenes are repeated frequently for no apparent reason and this made it a bit of a slog to read. I appreciate that she had people along a sex and gender spectrum and navigating religious difference in different ways, and the scene where she confronts a priest is pretty great.
I think I'll end up reading 3 books set in Cyprus for my Europe 2021 challenge, but maybe only one from a native author.
I like that the author is Cypriot but the contents are better suited to a short story. Lines and scenes are repeated frequently for no apparent reason and this made it a bit of a slog to read. I appreciate that she had people along a sex and gender spectrum and navigating religious difference in different ways, and the scene where she confronts a priest is pretty great.
I think I'll end up reading 3 books set in Cyprus for my Europe 2021 challenge, but maybe only one from a native author.
June 7, 2019
Wonderful descriptions of culture. Plot was a bit jumpy and had some holes but I enjoyed this very much overall. Captures village life from a different time and all the complications that go with it.
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews