A Room in Athens

A the remarkable journal of a free-spirited, young American woman abroad in Greece with her writer husband in 1964. Inspired by the sixties’ vogue for the exuberant land of Zorba and Lawrence Durrell. they seek an Aegean idyll–but their plans threaten to go awry when she learns she is pregnant. Settling in Athens, she gives birth to a boy at the country’s only natural-childbirth clinic. As a new mother in a strange land, she struggles to reconcile the myth of Greece, ancient and modern, with contemporary Athens, even while their idyll recedes. This new edition, with an Introduction by the author’s son, unlocks a little-known gem in women’s memoir literature for a new generation. A time capsule of the urban 1960s  This neglected gem evokes a lost period in many ways. It is a compelling and wonderful record of life as a young American in the 19060s, which evokes not only the author’s home of New York City, but also her honest perceptions of Europe at that time.   A powerful example of journal writing   The book, inspired by the author’s journals, is an exemplar in journal writing—a practice that is currently immensely popular. In 1974, A Room in Athens was excerpted in the landmark anthology Revelations: Diaries of Women.   A window into the sensibilities of a young woman with a second-wave feminist worldview  The author touches on many social awakenings and advances that emerged from second-wave feminism, which will likely interest all who have an interest in the development of feminist though and literature.   An honest and detailed chronical of natural childbirth   The author’s detailed descriptions of her pregnancy, natural childbirth and early days with her son is not only tender, but also serves as a guide for those interested in the psychological and physical joys and challenges of natural childbirth.   Beautifully written   The author writes with clarity and honesty about not only the lofty but also the mundane, as she describes her life-changing year in Europe.

Frances Karlen Santamaria

Frances Karlen Santamaria (1937–2013) was born in Cleveland, Ohio, attended Antioch College, and spent most of her life living in New York City. Primarily a writer of fiction and plays, this was her only published work before she was debilitated by multiple sclerosis, in her early forties. She was married twice and had five children.