A retelling of a classic Greek myth from a woman's point of view, woven into a contemporary narrative of how a young Greek-American woman learns both to listen and understand the story of her mother's life. A debut novel.

Priest Fainted

Literature & Fiction

Davidson, Catherine Temma

Contemporary

Womens Press

A stunning debut about a young Greek-American woman and the history she shares with her mother and grandmother.
Imam is a recipe known throughout villages in Greece, handed down from mother to daughter. If you come from these villages, your history is passed on through your body.
Its full name is imam baildi, and it means the priest fainted. Perhaps the priest was given a bit of bitter and sweet pleasure, and the power of everything behind the dish pushed him off his rock, just for a moment. Perhaps, when he was tumbling through the air, sighing with fear and ecstasy, he saw a glimpse of a new life to come.
Layered with love affairs, family squabbles, poignant misunderstandings, moments of wonder, and more, The Priest Fainted is nothing less than the recipe for a young Greek-American woman's life. Using her imagination and the stories passed through her bones as ingredients, Catherine Temma Davidson bls memories, Greek myths, recipes, and family gossip to uncover a hidden history, which is the story of one woman's year in Greece as it crosses and doubles back over the lives of her mother and grandmother.

The Priest Fainted: A Novel

United States

Henry Holt and Co.

Layered with love affairs, long car rides, poignant misunderstandings, moments of wonder, and more, The Priest Fainted is nothing less than the recipe of a young Greek-American woman's life. Using her imagination and the stories passed through her bones as ingredients, Catherine Temma Davidson bls memories, Greek myths, recipes, and family gossip to uncover a hidden history. Alternately enchanted with and enslaved by her past, the narrator discovers her own story in Greece as it crosses and doubles back over the lives of her mother and grandmother.

Holt Paperbacks

Upon This Rock

White Wing Pub. House

Behind the Lines

The Word Hoard

Lisa's grandfather is turning 100, and her family is gathering from across the country to celebrate at Grandpa Joe's home--a sprawling apricot orchard in southern California. The orchard is both the heart of their family and a reminder of its past. Like many immigrants to America, Joe and his wife, Anna, fled their home country in one of the horrific ethnic cleansings of the twentieth century. They were forced out of Turkey because they were Greek, but they arrived in the New World full of hope. A piece of land with a thriving orchard gave a new beginning to a new American family. Lisa wants to preserve the beloved orchard that Joe built with his own hands, but to her bitter disappointment, everyone else in the family wants to sell. They all have busy lives and families of their own. Lisa is gearing up for a battle--one that intensifies when her college-age daughter falls in love with the wrong man. Old divisions and the longing to hold on to tradition make it hard to see a path forward. Will the family's history tear it apart--or will they find deeper ties to bind them together?

The Orchard (Gemma Open Door)

Gemma Open Door

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Books by Davidson, Catherine Temma