Review
"Henriette Lazaridis weaves a deceiving and entrancing tale."
-- Booklist
"Secrets, lies, and the vibrant backdrop of life in present-day Athens compel this elegantly written tale of two women—a Greek-American embarking on adult life, and her new friend who prefers the long-ago Athens of her memories. Lazaridis’ moving story opens into a consideration of faith and forgiveness as each woman examines how to apply the essential notion of grace to their complicated relationships."
-- Daphne Kalotay, author of The Archivists
"Henriette Lazaridis sets her gorgeously written new novel against the backdrop of heat-baked modern Athens, unfolding the story of two mesmerizingly complex women: an aging widow who depends on the kindness of others, and the young Greek-American glued to her Scheherazade like tales of previous grandeur. A true stunner about the lies we tell, the truths we hide and the female connections that transform us."
-- Caroline Leavitt, New York Times bestselling author of Pictures of You and Days of Wonder
"A thoughtful and thought provoking encounter between two worlds, that of the elderly and that of the young. In this delicately drawn, unfurling narrative Henriette Lazaridis captures perfectly the contradictions of youth, the fine mix of equivocation, conviction, imprudence and self belief." -- Aminatta Forna, author of Happiness
“A stunning novel about an unlikely friendship that had me utterly enthralled. In luminous prose, Last Days in Plaka lays bare the yearnings of a trio of heartbreakingly human characters in modern-day Athens as they navigate a hot, deserted city haunted by memories and their own obscured agendas. A poignant, surprising read that will make you look more closely, and with greater tenderness, at the world around you.” -- Katrin Schumann, author of This Terrible Beauty
“This novel will find its audience of those who appreciate the subtlety of a gorgeous turn-of-phrase and expert tracking of an omniscient narrator who knows when to invoke the reader and when to extend their reach beyond the scene at hand. This book may not be able to call through the din of other more flashy tales in my head, but when it will call—and it will call—I look forward to hearing its voice again.” -- Jesse Hassinger, Odyssey Bookshop
“What Lazaridis calls her ‘strange little novel’ is a wonderful mix of coming of age, immigrant stories, and the pain that lurks behind crumbling facades.” -- Henrietta Thornton, FirstCLUE
Praise for Henriette Lazaridis
"At first, it’s the forbidding ice sheets of Antarctica, a 'place that offers beauty with a fist,' that dominate Henriette Lazaridis’s ingenious new novel. When the two strands of the narrative unite and then combust, the 'terra nova' of the novel’s title turns out to be a 'new world' not of the land but of the mind." ― New York Times Book Review
"As if Jack London and Anita Shreve had a literary baby: an absolutely immersive story of Antarctic survival, suffrage, a love triangle, art, and betrayal. Engrossing from the first moment to the last page, when you’ll immediately return to the beginning to start again." ― Jenna Blum, New York Times bestselling author
"The novel's strength lies in its impressive marriage of art and exploration. Lazaridis relishes in long, gorgeous descriptions of scenes and explanations of shot-framing and darkroom photo processing as intimate as a love letter. This underlying stream of artistic enchantment hits the mark and keeps the pages turning." ― Associated Press
About the Author
Henriette Lazaridis is the author of The Clover House (a Boston Globe bestseller), Terra Nova(which the New York Times called “ingenious”), and Last Days in Plaka (publishing April 2024). She earned degrees in English literature from Middlebury College, Oxford University, where she was a Rhodes Scholar, and the University of Pennsylvania. Having taught English at Harvard, she now teaches at GrubStreet in Boston. She was the founding editor of The Drum Literary Magazine and runs the Krouna Writing Workshop in northern Greece. Her essays and articles have been published in Elle, Forge, Narrative Magazine, The New York Times, New England Review, The Millions, and Pangyrus, and earned her a Massachusetts Cultural Council Artists Grant. An avid athlete, Henriette trains on the Charles River as a competitive rower, and skis, trail runs, or cycles whenever she can. She writes about athletic and creative challenges at The Entropy Hotel on Substack. Visit her website: www.henriettelazaridis.com.
