Being English Cypriot I loved this book. It was like a trip back to my childhood with the references to delicious cakes and Cypriot delicacies. I loved how the plot focused on different generations of women, the challenges they faced and the joy the found in their new surroundings. I could practically imagine myself in some of the imagery and scenes,

A story of life in Cyprus before and leading up to the 1974 Greek/Turkish war and also life in a small part of London for Cypriot immigrants. Mrs Petrakis moves from Cyprus to London and opens a bakery selling Cypriot bake deals goods. There are wonderful descriptions of the food that makes your mouth water and makes you wish you could just pop in to the bakery each day!
Her daughter in law Elena, has her own story and so does Elena's mother and sister.

It was a good read but I found it very confusing as the story kept jumping from Cyprus before and during the war to London in different times in the 80s and I founded it hard to work out who was being talked about and at what part of their life.

Thanks to Netgalley for the ARC.

Whilst I've read the book in full, this book was not for me. It takes you on life's journey of Mrs Petrakis moving back and forth in time between Cyprus and London. I find it difficult to give a detailed review, for me personally I found I couldn't really get into this book.

An interesting read, albeit one that is a little confusing. As others have pointed out, the time jumps and lack of clarity over which timeline you're reading (there's no difference in writing style to help you work it out, so I did have to keep checking back to the start of the chapter) did make it tricky to get into. But I was lured in by the gorgeous depiction of greek food (sweets in particular), and as a result I ended up really enjoying this book. Yes, it's darker than I expected in terms of content - domestic abuse, poverty, and mental health issues are all explored. However, the writing is beautiful, and I'm very glad I stuck with it, as it made for an enjoyable read.

3.5 stars.

Disclaimer - I was fortunate enough to be provided with an advance reading copy of this book by NetGalley. This has not affected my review in any way, and all opinions are my own

I found this book a little confusing as it jumps about in time quite a lot. I kept losing track of which particular mother the current chapter was about. It tells an important story - that of women's lives and available choices - but I just didn't sink fully into it. I didn't feel as though I got to know each character enough and in the end, didn't really care about any of them much. I also found the repeated use of Greek terms irritating. A few would be fine but I felt it was overdone.

I'm sorry I can't be more positive, as I wanted to like it. Maybe it didn't come at the right time for me.

Centred around a Greek Cypriot matriarch who owns a bakery in London. The story is told alongside that of her daughter in law. Both women have suffered in the past and this covered in the story. I found the book quite difficult to follow.

I enjoyed the story and I loved the characters. But what stopped me from giving this five stars was the constant back and forth, which I found very confusing and the made the story hard to piece together. Would have been so much better with less of this, as it wasn't necessary.

Maria Petrakis is a Greek Cypriot woman, living in London and running her own bakery situated in a significant Greek Community. The story is set in London and Cyprus and the Cyprus storylines going back to the Turkish invasion of Cyprus.

The novel is structured in a way that the story bounces between different decades in London and earlier decades in Cyprus, covering the separated stories of two women. In a way, this disrupted the storyline and at times caused confusion.

The descriptions in this book are enveloping. They give the reader a rich view of the bakery and its surroundings. This is a beautiful story about the bonds of family, about surviving, and ultimately growing from our experiences.

I would like to thank John Murray Press and Netgalley for an advance review copy of The Making of Mrs Petrakis in return for an honest review.

This book is so eye opening. It really gives you a peek into the lives of women at this terrible time. The impact of war on communities and the limited choices people have is so well explained. The main character escapes and turns to baking to escape the war- her hardships are heart breaking, but there are glimpses of how people can survive in such terrible times.

Maria Petrakis has escaped war torn Cyprus and a unhappy, violent marriage for London and a new start. She opens a bakery in a small Greek Cypriot community and enjoys making bread and pasties for everyone.

This is a story of the people in the community, those who help shape Mrs Petrakis, her family and her life. It shows how baking can help and in some cases overcome many illness and conditions and how Mrs Petrakis deals with it all.

Maria Petrakis runs a Greek bakery in London, a place of sweet smells and delicious flavours. For the last 24 hours, in which I’ve had my nose stuck in this book, I feel I’ve smelled the smells and tasted the pastries too.

This is a story not only of delicious pastries - but of women, domestic abuse, Greek Cypriots, love, motherhood, and listening. The characters are well written and tangible.

A lovely, quick and delicate read.

First of all I'm going to apologise...I absolutely hate giving bad reviews as I know the hard work and dedication that goes into the writing of a book, and as an author you are giving your soul to the world.

I just couldn't warm to the this book, and for two weeks I constantly tried to get into it, but I felt that the story didn't flow, and the constantly changing times lines and places were so confusing - I almost felt like I should be taking notes to keep up with the story.

I also found the use of Greek terminology really trying and I was constantly trying to look up words and phrases only to discover right at the end of the book (I had a kindle edition) that that was a glossary - this may have been better placed at the start of the book rather than at the end.

I really thought that this would be a story about Mrs Petrakis and the customers in her bakery, I wasn't expecting a heavy mental health story line throughout, and my heart really went out to Elena and her struggles with life.

The delicacies that Mrs Petrakis baked in her shop had me drooling and dying to try some!

Once again apologies for a somewhat negative review, but I feel that it's only fair to be honest and open about it, and although this book didn't gel for me, I am sure that it will for many, many people.

I found this book quite confusing with all the characters and the jumping between time-lines. I struggled throughout this book with all the different characters. It’s a shame as I was very interested I in the eras in which it was still. But I persisted and got to the end. My thanks to Netgalley and the publishers for giving me the opportunity to read this book in return for an honest review.

Lovely read tracing a families life leaving Cyprus for north London. The different threads are pulled together and it’s sad and heartwarming at the same time

I wasn't sure what to expect when I started this, but I persevered with it and loved it. The story's main character is Maria Petrakis and the story is told in the 60s, 70s and 80s, but not in that order. Also told is Elena's story which is interwoven with Mrs Petrakis's. The story flits between 1960s Cyprus which is on the cusp of war, 1970s London and Cyprus and 1980s London. The pastries in her bakery are described very well, so well that it made me crave them! It's hard to describe the story without giving it away, but it's basically about how Mrs Petrakis got to London and founded her bakery, but also Elena's story of how she ended up in London and what happened to her. It's funny and it's sad. In today's society, it's hard to appreciate what was (is) important to some people and how they are viewed by other people.
The history part was interesting as I could just about remember that there was something going on in Cyprus in the 70s, but not the details.
A nice read.

I enjoyed this novel but did find it a little confusing the way it flitted between time lines. The description of the cakes in the bakery was mouthwatering and I could almost smell them. Over all a good read.

i found this book to be a little disjoined, it did not flow easily and i found myself having to go back and check which era i was in.
the description of the pastries in the shop were mouth-watering which jarred against the description of the domestic situation in which they were made.
i would only recommend to a reader who enjoys books about family, especially Greek Cypriot community.

I must say that this was a book I had to persevere with. I enjoyed parts but lost interest as the writing didn't seem to flow and the timeline jumped about too much that I found myself settling into events from one era and it skipped to another, then another and so on. The descriptions of the mouthwatering Greek pastries were tantalising but I just floundered with the plot. There seems a lot of domestic abuse and poverty involved within the Greek Cypriot community resulting in severe mental issues amongst the generations of women involved. A confusing read not helped by whatever speech there is being in italics where the reader has to worked out who is speaking to whom. Not one I enjoyed reading .but maybe others would

I loved the idea for this story, bursting with convincing characters dealing with complex family relationships spanning decades, as well as dipping into the history of the Turkish invasion of Cyprus. This book includes some of the most beautifully written and vivid descriptions I have read, bringing the story to life. I could smell the pastries coming out of the oven at the bakery! However, I found the composition of the book too convoluted as it switched back and forth in time. Very often I had to reread parts to find to whom it was referring, unfortunately this detracted from my enjoyment.

Maria Petrakis is a Greek Cypriot woman, living in London, running her own bakery in an area where there is a significant Greek community.
The story is set in London and Cyprus, with the Cyprus story lines going back to the Turkish invasion of Cyprus. The lives of both women feature domestic tragedy and family conflict and although there isn’t much there about the war itself, it is there in the background and is potentially a factor in Elena’s psychological breakdown. The biggest problem for me was with the structure of the novel. It jumped from different decades in London and earlier decades in Cyprus covering the separate stories of the two women in what seemed to be a random way and although there were threads which connected the story lines, they were not particularly coherent and fir me, I feel that they disrupted the narrative of the novel.
I would like to thank John Murray Press and Netgalley for an advance review copy of The Making of Mrs Petrakis in return for an honest review.