Linos has been granted a five-day furlough from prison, where he is serving a life sentence for murder. His mother has decided to take him to Delphi. A few days spent in that magical place, she thinks, might distract him from his awful fate. She also hopes that this brief time together might be a chance for them to repair what has become a damaged relationship. To that end, she has a difficult revelation to share with her son: ten years earlier, it was she who led the police to him; she is responsible for his arrest and imprisonment. Over the course of five days, as mother and son watch the magnificent ruins of Delphi, matters concerning Linos's childhood that have been buried for decades resurface. This ambitious and magnificent work of literary fiction is a return to the origins of Greek tragedy, a story about guilt and innocence, about the monsters that lurk even in everyday life, and about the complex relationship between mothers and their sons.

Ioanna Karystiani
Ioanna Karystiani was born on the island of Crete, Greece, in the town of Chania and now lives in Athens. Her literary debut came with the collection of short stories, I kyria Kataki (Ms. Kataki). She has since written three novels, all of which have been translated into several languages. She wrote the screenplay for The Brides, directed by Pandelis Vulgaris and produced by Martin Scorsese, and Estrella mi vida, directed by Costa Gavras. She received the Greek state prize for literature and the Athenian Academy prize for her first novel, and the Diavaso literature prize for her second.

• Apr 20 2013
  The Spectator: "[BACK TO DELPHI] produces a slow burn that remains long after the final page."
  
• Mar 31 2013
  Bookslut: "Karystiani immerses the reader in the consciousness of her characters."