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Edited By Travelsquire
What is it about Greece that is so exotic, so romantic, so tantalizing that it s at the top of everybody s list and is the one foreign place they’re longing to visit? Let’s face it,dreams were made when we watched Meryl whooping it up on the island of Skopelos in Mama Mia.
Café Tempest: Adventures on a Small Greek Island is a funny and evocative novel that puts you right in the heart of Greek island life. It’s alive with the sights, smells, tastes and characters of Greece. On a deeper level, the book is filled with the kinds of observations and reflections that made Eat, Pray, Love so compelling.
“Welcome to Pharos. Laugh and dance in the hammock not the cradle of Western civilization,” says the author, Barbara Bonfigli. “I’ve been falling in love with Greece since I was old enough to drink retsina. But if Sarah, my protagonist, hadn’t captured my imagination you’d never know how I feel about friendship, feta, fishing, and the mystery that turns friends into lovers and fishermen into kings.”
Synopsis: Sarah, an American theatre producer, arrives in the Greek island of Pharos, and embarks upon a summer of romance and magic. Asked to direct the locals in their summer show, she picks Shakespeare’s play The Tempest. What follows is a hilarious adventure in casting, rehearsing, and consuming. Her neighbors are excited about acting but delirious about eating. Their rehearsals in a deconsecrated church become a feast in four acts.
Vivid descriptions of the island and its many colorful characters, form the background to the novel. At the same time, these memorable and well drawn characters are as magical as any from the Shakespearian masterpiece.Casting the production with local people who somehow fit their roles as if they were born to play them, Sarah creates a wonderful world of magic on an island that borders on the mythical itself.
In Shakespeare’s world, a shipwreck begins that delightful adventure of love and events that may or may not exist in any other world. Sarah is shipwrecked symbolically herself on Pharos, and the events of the story begin with what appears as everyday reality. The plot, however, moves gradually yet forcefully toward the sense that time and space have become distorted, and reality blends with a more fanciful existence. Romances become more complex as if caught in a storm at sea, despite Sarah’s desire for more simplicity in her life. At the same time, the play itself generates its own almost surrealistic existence, sweeping the island residents along in its storm.
Armed with sizzling wit, a dangerously limited Greek vocabulary, and a pitch-perfect ear for drama, Sarah juggles her stage production with some intriguing offstage romances of her own. When she falls in love, there are even trickier seas to navigate. Her offstage romance provides an unpredictable counterpoint to Shakespeare’s story of magic, intrigue, and the power of love.
*Excerpts from: A blog called Books and Authors:
http://joyce-anthony.blogspot.com/2009/08/cafe-tempest-by-barbara-bonfigli-review.html
Short take reviews:
“Bonfigli’s fictional memoir is why we read books. It’s a witty and wise look at love, friendship and baklava. If you can’t make it to Greece this summer, don’t worry. Crack open a bottle of retsina…and spend some delicious hours at Café Tempest.” Cheryl Lavin, Chicago Sun-Times
“It’s a triumph! Café Tempest brings the reader into a cast of characters that you don’t want to leave, and into a world that you don’t want to end.” Gordon Radley, past president Lucasfilm Ltd
“Snappy dialogue, a satisfying narrative arc and lots of humour.” International Herald Tribune/Athens Plus
“An enchanting novel. Bonfigli captures the romance of the islands.” Santa Fe New Mexican
“Café Tempest is an original, seductive, witty tale of one magical summer on a tiny Greek island. I found myself laughing out loud.” Christie Hefner, past CEO and chairman, Playboy Enterprises.
Wayne Hulbert’s review from the Virtual Tour on blogbusinessworld.blogspot.com Cafe Tempest: Adventures on a Small Greek Island by Barbara Bonfigli – Book review
STATS
Author: Barbara Bonfigli
Published: June 2009, Tell Me Press, Hardcover, 312 pages
ISBN: 978-0-9816453-1-5
*Also available in paperback, 312 pages
ISBN: 978-0-9816453-2-2
Includes: 28 illustrations, 7 recipes
Excerpted From Café Tempest:
Chapter 19
(Edited for length). Sarah, the novel’s main character, is an American theater producer spending several weeks on Pharos, a rustic, idyllic Greek island. She’s accompanied by her friend Alexandra (Alex.) Theo, the island’s doctor and impresario, has asked Sarah to direct the islanders in their summer play. She picks Shakespeare’s The Tempest. Theo’s office is the site of their audition.
We arrive at Theo’s office to find the doctor arranging cheese pies and taramosalata on a table under the open-heart poster.
“Welcome, welcome. I’m glad you’re here.”
“Hi Theo. Have I got the wrong night?”
He looks puzzled.
“We’re having the auditions tonight,” Alex says.
“I know.”
I’m about to say this isn’t a social event when I remember I’m in Greece.
“Thanks, Theo. Have you got any more chairs?”
Before we’re entirely set up the hopefuls begin to arrive. A lot of them—excited, nervous, hungry. Each one tries to strangle me while dropping an impassioned plea in my ear. Except for Stephanos, the chief of police, who drops a chocolate bar in my pocket. (Clearly he knows the criminal heart.) Theo produces a case of Sprite and starts pouring. The only no-show is my translator.
“Theo, have you seen Omiros?”
“He drives Tino’s cab. Don’t worry, after Tino he comes.”
“But what if Tino’s in the play? Who’s going to drive his cab?”
“Oh, you can’t have Tino; he never loses the business.”
“Then why is he here?” Do you have to be Greek to follow this?
“Look around, Saraki. He will hate it to be left out.”
“Alex,” I say, “let’s hand out the parts.”
The excitement increases. It’s a challenge to gossip drink eat and read at the same time.
“Good evening everyone. I’m very happy to see you all. I’m going to call each of you into the other room to read. There are lots of you, so please be patient.”
The postman, the hairdresser, the ferry ticket seller, several cab drivers, the gorgeous sponge diver: one by one my heart sinks.
“Sponge diver Theo might be okay as the king’s jester,” Alex says brightly.
“Sosto—true,” says Theo.
“Sosto,” I say. “If he can stop laughing at his own lines.”
“I’ll get Priftis,” says Alex.
The butcher has taken off his bloody apron, which does nothing to disguise his profession. It’s not so much the blood under his nails as he rattles the script, as the bits of . . . what . . . entrails? in his lively beard. Which makes it hard to concentrate on his performance. But slowly his rich unbridled voice and infectious energy clear my brain and grip my imagination.
“We are such stuff as dreams are made on,” Priftis announces with a butcher’s unflinching certainty. “And our little life is rounded with a sleep.”
I can’t help picturing his massive cleaver separating a goat from its head.
“Thank you, Priftis, you’re our Prospero.” I jump up and grab his hand. “Please send in the chief of police.”
When Stephanos, the first prince of Naples to simultaneously pick his teeth and dig in his ear, finishes his soliloquy, we wonder why Prospero decides to spare his life.
“Thank you, Stephano. I’m afraid you aren’t right for the part.”
He glares at me from a rolling prairie of chins.
“The part isn’t right for you, actually. But I’ll find one that is. I do have one question. Would you have time to rehearse?”
“Malista.—certainly.
“Well, that’s good. I’ll let you know.”
He winks at me and exits.
“Why did you ask him that?” says Theo.
“Because he’s the chief of police.”
Nothing.
“Doesn’t that keep him busy?”
“Doing what?” says Theo.
“Doing what . . . ,” I echo.
“Alex, go see who else is left out there, will you?”
I look down at my notes.
Kostis: Caliban or Alonso the king. whispers—looks murderous—gold teeth—spray them?
Vienoula: Miranda. where did she find that hat? stammers. stage fright now . . . onstage?
Bus driver: Bo’sun. wart is distracting.
Theo sponge diver: absurd facial gestures, beautiful hair, smells good. (Here I begin to doodle.) the king’s jester?
Priftis: Prospero
Stephanos: help! digging in his ear. has something in his teeth? (Good likeness of his chins . . .) maybe Sebastian, the king’s brother.
Alex reenters with her finger in her ear.
“How about The Pirates of Penzance?”
Omiros rushes past her.
“Sorry Sarah, but you haven’t seen Tino yet!
“God, I forgot. Please send him in.”
Tino takes off his cap and plants his feet in front of the medicine cabinet and stretches out a knarled waxy arm holding the script. The office is small; if he steps forward he’ll smack me.
“Sorry; I left my glasses in the taxi.”
“That’s OK. But don’t move!”
My first stage direction.
He begins to read Caliban. His voice is oily, edgy, ironic. His body sways like a Gila monster, he projects high and low. Like an actor! I venture a look at Alex, no longer picking her ear. Then at Theo, who looks worried. (Is Uncle Tino a heart patient?) Tino concludes with a sneer. We applaud.
“Adio.” He grins and slithers out.
To hell with doctor–patient confidentiality.
“What’s the matter with him, Theo?”
“Nothing.”
I look confused.
“He’s got a taxi, Saraki. He never leaves it.”
“I forgot! This is impossible!” I want to cry.
Omiros brings in Georgaki, the fisherman’s boy
“I must go.” Theo gets up. “I have much work to do.”
Can’t he see I’m in critical condition?
“Sure, Theo,” I say. “We’re fine.”
Omiros produces a guitar and Georgaki, our Ariel, begins to sing.
“Where the bee socks there socks eye . . . On a cow ship’s bell I lie . . .”
“Hold it, whoa.”
Laughing . . . “That’s not quite it. Here are the lyrics.”
A sense of humor is all you really need for this job.
(end)
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