Brandy Laze

Winner of the 2023 Cyprus National Book AwardWhen the Ledra Palace Hotel was built in the 1950s, it was more than just a building; it was a symbol of Cyprus's entry into the modern world. In this gem-like short novel, Constantia Sotiriou weaves a human portrait of the dreams and failures of the turbulent 20th century through the hotel's inhabitants: some who try to drown their sorrows in glasses of wine disguised as tea; some who secretly grow roses from their villages among the hotel's English gardens to make rose tea; some who face the summer heat and the lies of politics with a glass of lemonade; and some who never leave the holy water wherever they go. All are characters moving on the margins of history in a literary work that offers an intimate and deeply personal portrait of these people who were once famous before becoming a closed chapter of the past.