The Greek Persuasion: A Novel

(Paperback)

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Description

Women who choose to forego motherhood altogether has doubled since 1970. One-third of millennials don't want to be mothers.

About 4% of adults in the U.S. (9 million people) identify as LGBTQ+ and that number is growing.

Immigrants and their U.S.-born children now number approximately 86.4 million people, or 27 percent of the overall U.S. population

About 1.3 million Americans are of Greek descent, although there are estimates that raise this number to 3 million.

AUDIENCE

Readers who are interested in the choices (and struggles) of the contemporary woman (marriage, children, career)

Readers who are searching for identity (feminism, LGBTQ+, idea of home)

Readers who are interested in stories set partly outside of the U.S. with cultural nuances (Egypt, Greece, Greek mythology)

Women of Greek descent

Women who do not have children/do not plan to have children

Reviews

2020 Readers' Favorite Book Awards Silver Medal in Fiction: Cultural
2019 International Book Awards, Finalist, Fiction: Multicultural
2019 Sarton Women's Book Awards Winner in Contemporary Fiction

We enjoyed moving through the different settings of your novel and developed real bonds with Thair, Dita, and Phaedra. Your exploration of maternal relationships and female sexuality is nuanced and meaningful, which we always love to see as a feminist publisher.
Jennifer Baumgardner, former executive director/publisher of The Feminist Press and author of Look Both Ways: Bisexual Politics

Robeson makes her protagonists existential fretfulness about her future, and her feelings of uncertainty as she pursues a perfect romantic match, highly relatable. . . . Thairs narrative will resonate with readers who are confronting their own unpredictable futures.
Kirkus Reviews

In her heartrending debut novel, Kimberly K. Robeson sets a quest for romantic fulfillment against an alluring Greek backdrop and a five-year journey of self-discovery. While documenting her family history and writing her own story, Thair engages in a string of relationships that ultimately helps her understand what she really wants. The Greek Persuasion explores the intricacies of sexuality, romance, and relationships. Robesons novel is an enchanting read from beginning to end.
Danielle M. Wong, author of Swearing Off Stars

A complete and masterful insight into a womans mind. Kimberly K. Robeson offers an honest and brave encounter with her characters, making one become an invested spectator of womens lives and their circumstance of love throughout time and in distant lands.
Alicja Bachleda, Actress, films include Ondine, Trade, and Pan Tadeusz

Kimberly K. Robesons interweaving narrative of love stories combine modernity and myth in a tale that centers on multiple points of view without losing direction and is done with such ease. Human life is embedded in time and space, while at the same time exploring ethnic, sexual, generational, and temporal fluidity. . . . One is awed by an ending that balances closure and pathos; becoming and lan.
James Bland, PhD, Harvard, Recipient of an Academy of American Poets Prize, creative work in Kenyon Review, Ploughshares, Callaloo, Agni, among others

. . . to find a way to convey how much I loved The Greek Persuasion . . . I felt like I was attached at the hip of Thair, the protagonist, all the way through her journey. A personal and raw novel, full of honesty, about one persons journey to find her place as a woman in a modern societybecause labels shouldnt matter. Thairs love for Dita (her grandmother) is fierce, for Phaedra (her mother) its complicated, and for her lovers its complex and clearly important to understand her true self. What a joy to read.
Amy Morse, Former VP of Marketing at McGraw-Hill

This narrative discusses age-old questions in a contemporary context. . . . Like every mind that actively seeks fulfillment as 'entelechy,' Aristotles term for fulfilled potential, Thair must come to terms with her pasther Greek rootsand her future. . . . Robeson writes a novel that is both brave and sensual, and I look forward to reading her next book!
William Wallis, PhD, author of Hawk, and poet, collections include L.A. My Love, Sonnets, and One Moment More

Author Bio

Kimberly K. Robeson is a Greek-American assistant professor at Los Angeles Valley College, where she teaches world literature, creative writing, and composition, and is the coadvisor for the colleges LGBTQ+ Club. She grew up in Greece, Saudi Arabia, South Africa, and California. She holds a masters degree in comparative literature and has taught English in Greece, Peru, and the United States for the past twenty-seven years. Kimberly, like her yiayia, has always been a storyteller, and Greece is always in her heart. She currently resides in Los Angeles with her husband, Hugo, and their three bulldogs, Achilles, Oia, and Opa. The Greek Persuasion is her debut novel.