The Necessary Light
Shortlist for the European Union Prize for Literature (EUPL) 2014
Longlist for the Athens Prize for Literature 2014
Through the search for a lost painting, the novel explores the fragile bonds that link the past with the present, the relationship between loss and memory, and the distance between what happened and what is conveyed, between truth and its narratives.
Longlist for the Athens Prize for Literature 2014
Through the search for a lost painting, the novel explores the fragile bonds that link the past with the present, the relationship between loss and memory, and the distance between what happened and what is conveyed, between truth and its narratives.
Louisa Lascaratou returns from Oxford following the sudden death of her father, an Athenian lawyer. Awaiting her is his final message: the photograph of a painting by a famous 19th-century Scottish artist, unknown to her, which had been stolen from her family during the Occupation. Soon Louisa will discover that the history of the painting is inextricably linked to the inexplicable execution of the young painter Louise Hadjilouka, her father’s mother, in 1944. The truth, however, like the fate of the painting, remains unknown....
Through the search for a lost painting, the novel explores the fragile bonds that link the past with the present, the relationship between loss and memory, and the distance between what happened and what is conveyed, between truth and its narratives.
- Pages: 632
- ISBN: 978-960-9527-83-5
- Publication: 2013
- Categories: Literature, eBooks, Greek Literature
"Dorina Papaliou’s great achievement is that the novel is read with a rare and contradictory mood. On the one hand, you want it to end so you can find out how the story ends, and on the other, you wish it wouldn’t end because you’d lose the pleasure of reading it. Without the slightest hint of exaggeration, this is one of the best realist novels of recent years."
– G. N. Fertis, Eleftherotypia"If the author of the novel ‘The Essential Light’ achieves her aim, it is because the plot structure is flawless and, for that reason, it is impossible to put down."
– S. Kasimatis, Kathimerini
“The well-crafted plot structure and the gradual build-up of the action towards the final resolution, the intense suspense and the careful portrayal of the characters’ psyches, especially those of the two leading ladies, make ‘Essential Light’ a delightful read”
– D. Rouboula, Ethnos
“One cannot help but admire the economy of the work, which, in over six hundred pages, manages to weave together events, characters and developments into a coherent whole that rewards the reader […]The overall imagery evokes the feel of a film, and the characters are fully immersed in the time and atmosphere of the events. The tightly woven narrative does not become tedious, provided one is not in a hurry to know the ending, but explores various historical and psychological aspects, as the reader imagines diverse settings and moves from the present to the past and back again, actively experiencing the atmosphere of the Occupation”
– G. N. Perantonakis, Bookpress
“Multifaceted and multi-layered, Dorina Papaliou’s new novel stands as a testament to her literary maturity. ‘The Essential Light’ is a rich, engaging read, which contrasts and dissects the 1940s with the first decade of the 21st century”
– N. Vatopoulos, Kathimerini
“…apart from the excellent characters and the gripping plot, it enriches the long list of fine Athenian-themed texts and offers an interesting commentary on the poetic codes of painting… a multi-layered, ambitious work. A tireless quest not only for truth, but also for the meaning of its concept, its relative nature and its constructed nature”
– E. Kotzia, Metarithmisi
“…a truly masterful work”.
– C. Papageorgiou, diastixo.gr"[…] and let us hope we never again experience such violent times as those Papaliou brings to life with her sparse, cinematic prose. One wonders why her book has not yet been adapted for the small or big screen."
– Stavroula Papaspyrou, LIFO"...she writes stories with narrative, existential depth, creating characters who ‘converse’ with the anxiety and interest they provoke in us, whilst retaining the grace and essence of simplicity."
– Alexandros Stergiopoulos, Gazzetta“Dorina Papaliou had shown from her very first work, ‘Gatter’, that she knows very well how to create suspense, and she confirms these abilities in her new novel… The plot is exceptionally well-crafted, with the threads woven masterfully, revealing just what is needed at each stage until the end, which also highlights that light so essential to every artist.”
– T. Dimitroulia, Kathimerini
” … n Louise Hatzilouka and n Louisa, who win us over from the very first moment with their rich contradictions and explosive temperament. The main virtue […] n the coherence with which the central thematic motifs are woven together, as well as n the meticulous organisation of the plot, which carefully guards its secret right up to the very last lines, skilfully revealing every stage through which we reach the final resolution”
– V. Hatzivassiliou, To Vima tis KyriakisDorina Papaliou
Dorina Papaliou was born in Athens. She studied History at Brown University in the USA and went on to do postgraduate studies in Social Anthropology at the University of Cambridge. Her novel The Essential Light (Ikaros, 2013) was shortlisted for the European Union Prize for Literature (EUPL) 2014 and longlisted for the Athens Prize for Literature 2014, whilst her first novel, Gatter (Kedros, 2007), won the 2008 IBBY Prize.
