Mothers and Sons: A Memoir [Paperback]

A Best Book of 2024 by The New Yorker

An aging writer’s love letter to his elderly mother, this achingly beautiful work of autofiction traces their family’s history in Greece and in exile.

Theodor Kallifatides, an acclaimed Greek author exiled in Sweden for more than 4 decades at age 68, visits his 92-year-old mother, who still resides in Athens. Both know that this may be one of their last encounters before her death. During the week they spend together, they reminisce about the most important things in their lives, including the presence and absence of Theodor’s father, whose life story he is reading. There, his father explains his difficult journey, from his origins as a Greek exile in Turkey through his months in a Nazi prison, and his passion for teaching.

All this reveals the history of a family through the 20th century. But Kallifatides’s book is above all a wonderful tribute to the love of his mother, depicted in an unforgettable way, while conveying a universal truth about the importance of our mothers.“[A] wise and gently funny memoir.” —The New Yorker

“In this poetic account, Greek novelist Kallifatides…spins a weeklong visit with his elderly mother into a moving reflection on legacy…a stunning ode to mother and motherland alike.” —Publishers Weekly (starred review)

“The kind of book that reverberates for the reader long after it’s read…[Kallifatides’s] elegant and evocative writing is translated beautifully from the Swedish by Marlaine Delargy…a moving meditation on the poignancy of loving an aging parent while the opportunity still presents itself.” —Shelf Awareness
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