'"When the Past Awakens" is Maria Avraam's real and brutally honest account of her life and thoughts, straight from the heart, with emotional intensity. If it wasn't for Maria documenting her internal suffering in her diaries, her story, I believe, would not have been told. Her domineering mother was a constant battle of the mind and spirit. Maria endured mental and physical abuse from an arranged and forced marriage to a stranger. Arriving in Australia from her village in Cyprus presented even more challenges especially when she found herself alone, a deserted wife, with three small children to raise. Maria triumphs through the odds and proves to be a survivor. Following on, is "The Richmond House" written by Helena Kidd, Maria's first born. Helena brings a lighter tone, with her snippets of family life growing up in her uncle's home. "The Richmond House" is set in the 1960s and 1970s, overlapping in part to 'When the Past Awakens'.
Source: Publisher's blurb.
When The Past Is Left
Australia
:
Eleni Press
,
2024
27984597
2024
single work
autobiography
'‘We were four shattered souls saying goodbye that night.’
'That same night, a storm raged as Helena drove through sheets of rain back to Melbourne, to the hospital, willing Maria to delay her last breath.
'In her follow up to the award-nominated When the Past Awakens, Helena Kidd recounts the final days of her mother, Maria Avraam.
'The writing in this book (a companion to When the Past Awakens) has standalone short stories, essays, prose, vignettes, poems, elegies, and messages of love and support that show glimpses of a mother and daughter bond that prevailed despite life’s obstacles and challenges. There were many layers to that bond as our years together advanced. This book is also the story of Maria’s ‘quiet house’ in Brunswick, and how a home holds its memories inside us all. When The Past Is Left is what came after I published my mother’s memoir.
'Maria came to Australia from Cyprus in 1957. She was a survivor of an abusive marriage and was later deserted in the 1960s. With the assistance of her children, she became a first-time homeowner at the age of 64 in Brunswick, Victoria. Called ‘The Quiet House’, it gave Maria new life and set her free from cultural patterns of restriction.
'Helena Kidd was raised in Richmond, Victoria. As a young woman, she was caught between two worlds. She is of Cypriot heritage, but as a second generation Australian she tried hard to fit into the ‘Australian way’. The bonds of mother and daughter were fractured for a time, but as Maria and Helena worked towards a better future together their connection became unshakeable.
'When The Past Is Left is an unforgettable fusion memoir filled with short stories, essays, prose, elegies, and messages of love, praise and support from a community who shared in Helena’s grief. Helena explores the past through generational history and accounts of growing old, death and grief. The stories in this generational history form an anchor of love and pay tribute to a brave Maria who let go of her most devasting secrets before her passing.
'Helena Kidd has been recognised for her contribution to literature as a Cypriot from the Diaspora. When The Past is Left is Helena’s third publication.' (Publication summary)
