Greek Lessons

"We didn’t know anything. We just knew our lives…."Part biography, part memoir, Greek Lessons is a stunning work of nonfiction that explores the influence of the Greek culture on five generations of Greek women. Listening to her mother, Angie, evoke the memories of her childhood, Rita Wilson embarks on a quest to learn more about her mother’s life. After losing her father at the age of eleven, Angie, an only daughter of Greek immigrant parents who escaped Greece before the atrocities of World War I, finds herself responsible not only for her four brothers, but for her mother’s survival in a world in which she cannot communicate. Through conversations with her mother and visits with her relatives in Greece, Rita Wilson discovers the impact that the heartache of war, loss, and betrayal has had on her family, but she also experiences the love, laughter, and sense of belonging that comes with her heritage. Written with humor and empathy, Greek Lessons reflects a yearning and curiosity that children of immigrants know well. Each visit to Greece reveals another secret, another forgotten detail that illuminates the patterns of our lives. This is a search for the stories of our fathers and our mothers that leads us to ourselves.The story gathers force around the idea “what if?” What if the liberal-minded American author went to live in Greece? What if her daughter remained in Greece to see if her summer romance was something more? The lives of those who moved to America, and those who stayed put in their ancestral homeland, are lovingly evoked in this richly rewarding and highly personal account of family life and social history. The sensual pleasures of Greek life, the food, the cafes, the nightlife, the challenges of dating and courtship down through the years, and the parade of colorful relations and strong women make for a truly enchanting read. GREEK LESSONS is a vivid and original celebration of what it means to be Greek.

Rita Wilson is an English and Creative writing teacher and an artist. She has won several awards for her artwork and has had her art and poetry published in Rune and Riverspeak Literary Magazines, and VOICES from the ATTIC. Wilson earned her MFA in Creative Non Fiction from Carlow University. She resides in the Pittsburgh area with her husband, John.