"Unexpected, rare, and a revelation . . . Sarah Kafatou has given us a gentle-paced, keen-eyed lesson, day by day, in how to live as we get older.”―Rachel Hadas, author of
Strange Relation: A Memoir of Marriage, Dementia, and Poetry
and
Poems for Camilla
Pomegranate Years
, an intimate account of three years lived on the island of Crete, documents a turbulent, stressful time of economic and political crisis in Greece. It is also deeply concerned with illness and death, as the author's husband Fotis Kafatos, a distinguished scientist, is increasingly affected by Alzheimer’s disease.
Fotis remains a full human being, authentic and resilient despite his impairments. Sarah reflects on his situation, as well as on the vicissitudes of daily life, the practice of art, and current events in Greece, Europe, and the US. She takes long walks in the Cretan mountains and discovers hidden aspects of the island. Talks with friends, and her own historical awareness, provide her with a rich sense of belonging.
As an account of a solitude, a couple, a family, and a culture,
is concerned with the question of how to live well at any age, but especially as one grows older and a beloved life draws almost imperceptibly nearer to its end.