THE FAÇADE LADY OF CORFU

In his brilliantly constructed novel, Spiros Plaskovitis counterpoints his enigmatic heroine- Anghelina Dassiou- against the touristic "Development" (or Destruction?) of most Greek islands today. Anghelina, although forced by circumstances to work as a sales- lady in a deluxe tourist Hotel, still personifies nostalgia for the traditional couleur locale of Corfu-particularly the old Venetian Town. The Big Business exploitation of the island is represented by Nikias Zavolis, the odious Manager of the Hotel, where the hero-Dinos Hairetis –is spending his holiday with his exotic half-caste mistress. Expecting only a sultry summer fling, Dimos quickly becomes involved in a dramatic conflict with his own past. Despite his thirty years’ absence from Corfu, he vividly recalls the former beauty of his birthplace prior to the invasion of Saudi-Arabian investors, Greek plutocrats and Americanized jukeboxes. He also finds himself falling in love with the ageless 55- year-old Anghelina, as his lust for his poignantly childlike mistress starts to fade. In the character of Dinos Hairetis, a disillusioned Euro-M.P., we confront an ideological outsider drifting aimlessly amidst a bevy of cynical politicians and High Society hypocrites.

The personal stories of the protagonists are cleverly interwoven with the story of present-day Greece’s struggle to preserve her age-old identity.