ABANDONED. story about cypriot man who travels who is interested in photography then becomes plastic surgeon. has harsh cypriot mother, adopts friend's daughter whose face has been savaged by dog attack

[George]

story about cypriot man who travels who is interested in photography then becomes plastic surgeon. has harsh cypriot mother, adopts friend's daughter whose face has been savaged by dog attack

read this book last summer (2014). can't remember title, author, or character names

i would like to find the name of this book as i would like to buy it for a friend as i loved it and am sure they will too. thank you very much in advance for reading my somewhat unclear synopsis and if anyone knows the title or anything more about the book it would be most appreciated.

basic plot starts as young boy (main character) in small greek island, think cyprus. he wants to leave as soon as possible, has dream of being international photographer.
mother is very strict orthodox christian, teacher at school. mother's glamorous friend brings her daughter to the island, she wears a face mask as she has been disfigured by a dog attack, which then got infected. son's initial reaction is to be physically sick. over time he comes to terms but still struggles with it. over time she goes to his school, as they grow up he gets a camera, then goes travelling the world as a photographer. the girl stays with his mother on the small island. she becomes her carer as mother gets ill/old. over time he turns from relatively narcisstic young man into a plastic surgeon doing aid work in foreign country (can't remember where). he returns to find his ill mother who over time had not been supportive of his career in photography is now proud of his work as a surgeon and is proud to call him her son.


many thanks. george

[Lobstergirl, au gratin]

Would you say it's literary fiction or mass market fiction? Does it belong to any particular genre? Did you read it as a paper book, ebook, other format? Remember the cover?

[George]

i think i read it as a paper back but can't remember the cover. i'd say probably mass market fiction. i'm sorry i can't be of more help

an additional bit of info, the boy takes a photo of the girl sitting on a rock by the sea which both of them keep a copy of and he has large version kept with him during his humanitarian work

[Kris]

And the Mountains Echoed by Khaled Hosseini?

Some reviewers on Amazon said, "Marcos Varvaris is a plastic surgeon from Greece. His father died when he was very young and his mother, a strong woman, raised him on her own. Her close friend, Madeleine, is a “woman of the world”. She comes to visit them with her daughter, Thalia, whose face is severely disfigured."
and "Dr. Markos Vavaris, a plastic, surgeon who worked miracles on patients who were badly deformed during the war in Afghanistan and while young travelled much while working as a photographer."

[Lobstergirl, au gratin]

George, was that your book?

[Lobstergirl, au gratin]

Lobstergirl wrote: "George, was that your book?"

No response in 3 years. Moving to Abandoned.