Aphrodite’s Breath (Susan Johnson, A&U)

Author Susan Johnson, now in her early 60s, is drawn back to a place she travelled to as a young woman: Kythera, the most southern of the Ionian islands and the proclaimed birthplace of the Greek goddess Aphrodite. With her children grown, there are few things tying her to her home in Australia, apart from her 85-year-old mother, a ‘supermodel’ beauty who Johnson invites on a whim to live with her on the ancient and mystical island. Kythera’s unexpectedly cold winters and poorly insulated housing create the first of many fault lines between mother and daughter. A self-described private person, Johnson struggles at times with revealing so much of herself and her mother on the page, amid some ethical grappling with what it is to write a memoir. She has an admirable radar for truth, though, and writes with great sensitivity and vulnerability, her discomfort with the task at hand palpable. Part travel memoir, part searing exploration of love and the sometimes difficult mother-daughter relationship, Aphrodite’s Breath is at times heartbreaking, funny and deeply moving. The immense beauty of the Greek island is reflected in the depth of the poetry in Johnson’s prose. This is writing to savour. Aphrodite’s Breath would sit comfortably beside Charmian Clift’s titles and may appeal to lovers of Greek mythology and familial-based memoirs. Intrepid readers might be inspired to add Kythera to their travel itineraries.

Books+Publishing reviewer: Deborah Crabtree is a Melbourne-based writer and bookseller. Books+Publishing is Australia’s number-one source of pre-publication book reviews.

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Category: Reviews