Sofka Zinovieff
Author of Putney
About the Author
Sofka Zinovieff was inspired to uncover the sensational life of her grandmother after stumbling across one of Sophy's diaries written during the occupation. A trained anthropologist and journalist, Zinovieff lives in Athens, Greece.
Image credit: Sofka Zinovieff © Photo Elisabetta Catalano
Works by Sofka Zinovieff
Tagged
Common Knowledge
- Birthdate
- 1961
- Gender
- female
- Nationality
- England
UK - Birthplace
- London, England, UK
- Places of residence
- Athens, Greece
Rome, Italy - Education
- University of Cambridge (New Hall)
- Occupations
- journalist
biographer
novelist - Relationships
- Zinovieff, Kyril (great-uncle)
- Short biography
- Sofka Zinovieff was born to an English family with Russian roots. Her paternal grandparents were aristocrats who fled the Russian Revolution as children and settled in England, where they later met and married. Her father Peter Zinovieff was the founder of Electronic Music Studios, and throughout the 1970s their family home was a gathering place for many popular and avant-garde musicians. Sofka studied social anthropology at Cambridge University. While researching her doctoral thesis on modern Greek identity and tourism, she traveled to Greece for the first time and came to love the country. In 1990, she made her first visit to Russia, where she met Vassilis Papadimitriou in the Press Office of Moscow’s Greek Embassy. They later married and had two children. Sofka has worked as a freelance journalist for British publications, including The Independent Magazine, The Telegraph Magazine, The Times Literary Supplement, and The Financial Times. She's the author of several books, including Red Princess: A Revolutionary Life (2007), a biography of her grandmother Princess Sofka Dolgorouky, and The House on Paradise Street (2012), a novel. She lives with her family near Athens.
Members
Reviews
I think it is a testament to the writer's skill that this book slowly shifted it's tenor through the narrative's progression. Initially, we're thrust into the goings on of a fairly vibrant and unorthodox household to observe the 'blossoming' of a 'relationship'. The narrative initially doesn't dwell on appropriateness of this 'special relationship' and, as a result, I too didn't initially judge the narrative's characters. But, as the work progresses, it draws in all the color that will deeply impact its protagonists and, in the process, that that we will reflect upon. I think that was what so captured me - that slow, constant and controlled shift the author drives in both the characters and my realizations. As the characters question themselves and ask, 'how did I miss seeing....', so too did I wonder how my judgements of their actions were delayed. I couldn't help but think is was so much like a storied greek tragedy in its structure once I reflected on the work as a whole.… (more)
Gerald Hugh Tyrwhitt-Wilson, 14th Baron Berners, was a well-to-do composer, novelist, and eccentric whose stately home, Faringdon, was where he entertained the likes of Cecil Beaton, Gertrude Stein, Nancy and Diane Mitford, Igor Stravinsky, and Salvador Dali. He was the inspiration for Lord Merlin in Nancy’s The Pursuit of Love. He kept a portable clavichord in his car and had his doves dyed in pastel colors.
Robert Hebert-Percy, the Mad Boy, was his much-younger lover and partner. Surprising everyone, he married Jennifer, a woman his age, who came to live at the estate and they had a child, Victoria. Berners was fond of Jennifer and the baby but the marriage foundered. They divorced and she remarried, more than once. Robert remained at Faringdon and inherited it when Berners died.
Sofka Zinovieff is the daughter of Victoria so the Mad Boy was her grandfather. They had a friendly relationship but weren’t close. When she was in her 20s he asked her to visit, and, to her surprise, told her he was leaving her the estate.
It’s funny and empathetic. Several of the characters’ fathers were closeted gay men in unhappy marriages. Many people in the story went from marriage to affair to affair and the lover of someone in the 30s may reappear in the 40s, now married to someone else. There are many quirky and memorable characters and surprises up to the last chapter. Zinovieff describes it all with sympathy and it’s beautifully illustrated with photos.
As an Anglophile and a fan of the Mitfords and that world, this is just the sort of book I love. It was recommended by the cartoonist Mimi Pond who’s writing a graphic novel about the Mitfords and posting pages on Facebook.… (more)
Robert Hebert-Percy, the Mad Boy, was his much-younger lover and partner. Surprising everyone, he married Jennifer, a woman his age, who came to live at the estate and they had a child, Victoria. Berners was fond of Jennifer and the baby but the marriage foundered. They divorced and she remarried, more than once. Robert remained at Faringdon and inherited it when Berners died.
Sofka Zinovieff is the daughter of Victoria so the Mad Boy was her grandfather. They had a friendly relationship but weren’t close. When she was in her 20s he asked her to visit, and, to her surprise, told her he was leaving her the estate.
It’s funny and empathetic. Several of the characters’ fathers were closeted gay men in unhappy marriages. Many people in the story went from marriage to affair to affair and the lover of someone in the 30s may reappear in the 40s, now married to someone else. There are many quirky and memorable characters and surprises up to the last chapter. Zinovieff describes it all with sympathy and it’s beautifully illustrated with photos.
As an Anglophile and a fan of the Mitfords and that world, this is just the sort of book I love. It was recommended by the cartoonist Mimi Pond who’s writing a graphic novel about the Mitfords and posting pages on Facebook.… (more)
For somebody who knew nothing about post WWII politics in Greece, this was a most interesting and informative read. The great strength of this book is that it explains a complex political background very clearly and weaves it into the story in such a way as to make it easy to follow.
In terms of writing, it's not 'Captain Correlli's Mandolin' which is why I've given it three stars. The story is well-told with strong female characters but the alternating POVs jarred a little with me from time to time. The older women are very convincingly and sympathetically drawn but I found the grand-daughter annoying. Unfortunately the final part is written in her POV which spoiled the ending for me.
While it's very readable, this is a book about serious topics. It gives great insight into the background to contemporary Greece and would be well worth reading before visiting Greece. But it isn't light holiday reading.
In my case, it was an impulse kindle buy. These can be hit or miss, but this is one I'm very pleased I found.… (more)
In terms of writing, it's not 'Captain Correlli's Mandolin' which is why I've given it three stars. The story is well-told with strong female characters but the alternating POVs jarred a little with me from time to time. The older women are very convincingly and sympathetically drawn but I found the grand-daughter annoying. Unfortunately the final part is written in her POV which spoiled the ending for me.
While it's very readable, this is a book about serious topics. It gives great insight into the background to contemporary Greece and would be well worth reading before visiting Greece. But it isn't light holiday reading.
In my case, it was an impulse kindle buy. These can be hit or miss, but this is one I'm very pleased I found.… (more)
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Statistics
- Works
- 8
- Members
- 505
- Popularity
- #49,063
- Rating
- 4.0
- Reviews
- 18
- ISBNs
- 51
- Languages
- 6
“The Parthenon takes its color from all our thoughts and all our dreams.” - Kostis Palamas
“We are all Greeks. Our laws, our literature, our religion, our arts have their root in Greece.” - Shelley… (more)