Sara Alexi
‘Sara! Are you listening’ I wasn’t.
‘I might as well be trying to teach you Chinese.’ True, I thought as I brought my attention back into the room. I had been watching a butterfly dancing circles around a dandelion whose delicacy had forced it's way through the tarmac of the netball court. No one knew I was dyslexic. My father suspected but he felt if I knew it might ‘give me an excuse not to try’. I learnt to cover my disadvantage and I grew smart in people reading.
It took a while to find my feet but eventually, and quite naturally I guess, I qualified as a psychotherapist and ran my own practice for years. My artistic nature, during that time, confined to painting and I exhibited widely.
It was my move to Greece that was the catalyst to the writing. I met people who had ‘no voice’. Determined to give them one I began to write. The Greek Village Collection is the result. As the title implies the books are set in the sun and the warmth but it the nature of people, the strength of relationship and the resilience of mankind that is the real focus. If you like people watching then these books are for you.
I am now fortunate to divide my time between England and a tiny rural village in the Peloponnese, in Greece, where I have been slowly renovating a ruined stone farmhouse, whilst observing the Greek way of life and absorbing the culture.
I invite you to come and meet me: facebook.com/authorsaraalexi
‘I might as well be trying to teach you Chinese.’ True, I thought as I brought my attention back into the room. I had been watching a butterfly dancing circles around a dandelion whose delicacy had forced it's way through the tarmac of the netball court. No one knew I was dyslexic. My father suspected but he felt if I knew it might ‘give me an excuse not to try’. I learnt to cover my disadvantage and I grew smart in people reading.
It took a while to find my feet but eventually, and quite naturally I guess, I qualified as a psychotherapist and ran my own practice for years. My artistic nature, during that time, confined to painting and I exhibited widely.
It was my move to Greece that was the catalyst to the writing. I met people who had ‘no voice’. Determined to give them one I began to write. The Greek Village Collection is the result. As the title implies the books are set in the sun and the warmth but it the nature of people, the strength of relationship and the resilience of mankind that is the real focus. If you like people watching then these books are for you.
I am now fortunate to divide my time between England and a tiny rural village in the Peloponnese, in Greece, where I have been slowly renovating a ruined stone farmhouse, whilst observing the Greek way of life and absorbing the culture.
I invite you to come and meet me: facebook.com/authorsaraalexi
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The Illegal Gardener
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Literary fiction/Modern Romance
Sara Alexi weaves an entrancing story of the burgeoning relationship that develops between two people from very different backgrounds and cultures, an English woman living in Greece and the Pakistani illegal immigrant who becomes her gardener and house boy. Each comes with their own problems, their own past baggage, and she explores these with sympathy and understanding as well as the many nuances of the differences in cultures as they become more and more dependent on each other.' 'A really intelligent, moving book.' 'Sensitive with beautifully crafted characters that you really cared about.' 'The Illegal Gardener' is a story of betrayal, love, trust and friendship. Not a romance but perhaps a lesson in life on just how young minds can be damaged by spite or thoughtlessness, and how those same minds can be repaired by true friends.' |
The Black Butterflies
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Literary Fiction.
Marina is a gentle soul who makes a modest living in her corner shop. Her husband died years ago, and her children have grown up. Life is pleasantly predictable, if a little dull. But not even her daughters know that thirty five years ago Marina spent lonely months on a nearby island, and the events of that summer have haunted her ever since. Now Marina's daughter is planning to move to the same island and the past and present threaten to collide with dreadful consequences. Black Butterflies follows Marina reluctantly revisiting the island. She has a plan, of sorts, to avert possible tragedy but in doing so she will come face to face with the consequences of her long kept secret. Will she be in time, and why does she never go anywhere without her big black bag? Packed with a troupe of colourful characters that intertwine in a gripping story, Black Butterflies is by turn uproariously funny, touching or sad. Exploring themes of bigotry and how doing what we think is for the best can unwittingly harm those we love, this is a gentle journey to one woman's redemption. "Exquisite writing, heart touching and intelligent.' 
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The Gypsy's Dream
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Literary Fiction
Cross with her father, Abby, 17, boards a flight to Greece, but gets hopelessly lost and ends up in the wrong village. Alone, with very little money and no Greek Abby realises she has to stand on her own two feet for the first time… Events throw her together with Stella, which brings to the boil local tensions that have been brewing for years, the ripples drawing in other people in the village, threatening Abby's ability to ever leave, culminating in shocking unforeseen events and the uncovering of dark secrets that change peoples' thinking about themselves and others permanently. Praise for The Gypsy's Dream The Gypsy`s Dream, by Sara Alexi was a wonderful surprise. The writing was fresh and the style flowed well. It was almost as if I took a vacation in Greece for a week. I really enjoyed the characters and the story was full of life lessons. This was by far the best book I`ve read in years. - Wade Faubert, Amazon 
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The Art of Becoming Homeless
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Literary Fiction, Modern Romance
Michelle has always had a positive attitude to work and responsibility and has made all the 'right' choices. Why then does she feel she might have ended up in the wrong place? Disenchanted with London life, when her firm decides to send her to Athens to handle a case she jumps at the opportunity. Before work begins on Monday Michelle decides to squeeze in a sun-filled weekend on an island but a chance encounter on the boat across and a tragic accident throw her plans into disarray and threaten to change the entire course of her life... 'Sara Alexi has quickly become one of my favorite authors. Her Greek village stories are vivid and captivating. It was hard for me to put this book down.' 'This is a "I cannot put this book down"! Sara sure knows how to spin an exciting tale.' 'I feel like I know these people (actually, they could be my cousins). I hope Sara Alexi keeps writing about these people - I want to know how they are getting along. Sara Alexis is a storyteller, and I have enjoyed her stories. I don't often get hooked on series (books/ tv) but I am hooked on this series. 
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In The Shade of The Monkey Puzzle Tree
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Literary Fiction
'The struggle of a Man to move out from the shadow of his father and make his mark in the world.’ 'This is the most satisfying book I have read in some time’ ' The stories take you away from grey skies into a wonderful setting of sunshine, but most of all fabulous story telling.’ 'In The Shade Of The Monkey Puzzle Tree is a warm, rich read. I plan to seek out other novels in the The Greek Village Collection’ 'I devoured this book not wanting to put it down.’ 'I cannot recommend enough this new and lovely tale.’ 'A good portrayal of emotions and the sense of right and wrong. A really good read and the ending not as I expected.’ 'A very unusual story and possibly the best in this 'village' series of books by Sara Alexi.’ 'Sara Alexi has the ability to suck you into the character's lives with such a force, you feel sad when the last page has turned.’ 'I loved Sara Alexi's style of writing, you never know what's coming next. She has a great talent for making you angry, sad, happy, frustrated and disgusted at the characters she has created.' 
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A Handful of Pebbles
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Literary Fiction, Modern Romance
The tale of Sarah who travels to the village in Greece for the wedding of her youngest son to Helena. 'This was an emotional book, of loss and regret and of the chance to change things and make a new start.' 'This story is so rich in content that you really feel for the characters and go on a journey with them.' 'Good if not better than the first in the sereis! (No need to read in order.) The story is about loss, regret and the belief that you can be whoever you want to be...' This is one of those books where you just don't want it to end.’ - Micheal Finlayson (Amazon top 1000 reviewer.) 'Her storytelling is so good it is easy to ignore the depth of her characterisation,' 'Was enthralled by the twists and turns; particularly at the end.' 'A well told story, real and rounded characters and a Greek background that is so well written you can feel the sun and smell that wonderful warm, baked earth and sea salt scent that that is unique to Greece.' 
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The Explosive Nature of Friendship
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Literary Fiction
The Explosive Nature of Friendship explores the tensions that exist between two lifelong friends. Mitsos, one of the friends, and now an old man, leads a solitary and ordered life, which is interrupted by the arrival of his young nephew, whom he reluctantly agrees to babysit. To amuse the child, he recounts tales from his own youth, which are both romantic and tragic, while also being funny, and touching. In the telling of these tales he is prompted to reassess the past and to come to terms with the events of a single day that has haunted him for twenty years, and all that led up to it. A letter gives him a chance to rectify his biggest wrong and gain the peace he is seeking. But is what he has sought for the last twenty years what he wants now? Is he the man he thought he was? Set against a backdrop of a small Greek farming village, comedy and tragedy are present in equal measures. Sara transports you to a land of sea and sun as she explores what it means to be human, and fallible. The book examines the nature of friendship, and how our choices and our perceptions of our place in society can define us. 
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