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MORE THAN RAPTURE

An upmarket page-turner published in 2023

by Hestia Publishers, Athens

90,000 words

Berlin, 1895: a privileged Greek student is entranced by a hard-pressed young German actress. They forge a lifelong bond, despite dramatically different paths that take him to the heights of government as prime minister in 1949 and her, politically compromised, to the rubble of post-war Berlin.

MORE THAN RAPTURE is a work of fin-de-siecle historical fiction based on a true story with fascinating angles on both gender and class politics.

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The blurb and the synopsis

MORE THAN RAPTURE by Marina Petsalis An upmarket page-turner published in 2023 by Hestia Publishers, Athens Now in its 2nd edition 90,000 words NB – No translation required, originally written in English! NB - a German edition is eligible for GreekLit funding. Much of the contents are letters originally in German. Berlin, 1895: a privileged Greek student is entranced by a hard-pressed German actress. They forge a lifelong bond, despite dramatically different paths that ta

Sep 18

The reviews

Please click below for a compilation of reviews so far in English or German.

Sep 18

The illustrations

This photo, taken on a day trip to the Schildhorn peninsula in 1896, inspired one of the scenes in the novel. The Greek edition of the book contained an image per chapter, without captions so as not to interrupt the flow. It was usually self-evident who or what was depicted, as the image was directly relevant to the chapter in which it appeared. The novel was also bookended by facsimiles of original documents to show Helena and Alexander's handwriting. However, I had come acr

Sep 17

More than flattered

Bovary.gr, a very popular culture and lifestyle site in Greece, recently asked readers to name the book that they 'always recommend to their friends'. And MORE THAN RAPTURE was one of the 10 books selected! I admit that seeing my novel on a list that includes Márquez, Flaubert, and Hemingway (as absurd as it may be!), triggers reactions of hysterical joy. https://www.bovary.gr/culture/books/10-anagnostes-bovary-biblia-proteinoyn-filoys

Sep 15

Readers Say

I read it in one sitting!! Tassia Jacobides

A real gem. Μaria Papachrysanthou

It brought tears to my eyes. Vangelis Andronikakis

This story is relevant to us all. Atalante Apergis

The writing took my breath away with every sentence! Joanna Tsigaridas

I felt I had read a life's work. Odile Brehier

I told my friends that if I had the money this is the book I would turn into a film. The writing is superlative. Iannis Christopoulos