A Theater for Dreamers by Polly Samson
Historical Fiction, Contemporary
Algonquin Books | May 11th, 2021
4/5 Stars
It’s 1960, and the world teeters on the edge of cultural, political, sexual, and artistic revolution. On the Greek island of Hydra, a proto-commune of poets, painters, and musicians revel in dreams at the feet of their unofficial leaders, the writers Charmian Clift and George Johnston, troubled queen and king of bohemia. At the center of this circle of misfit artists are the captivating and inscrutable Axel Jensen, his magnetic wife Marianne Ihlen, and a young Canadian ingenue poet named Leonard Cohen.
When eighteen-year-old Erica stumbles into their world, she’s fresh off the boat from London with nothing but a bundle of blank notebooks and a burning desire to leave home in the wake of her mother’s death. Among these artists, she will find an unraveling utopia where everything is tested—the nature of art, relationships, and her own innocence.
Erica is grieving the loss of her mother and is stuck living with her abusive father. The only people keeping her grounded are her brother Bobby and her boyfriend Jimmy.
Gaining a unexpected financial inheritance, Erica decides to move to Hydra, a Greek island, with Bobby and Jimmy. They don’t live in the most extravagant of accommodations, but Erica soon discovers the various artistic circle of different people from around the world.
This book was a great coming of age, discovering new things type of book. There are lots of different characters in this book from painters, writers, musicians, you name it, all essentially a theater of dreamers. I loved them all as they played their own little parts on their own and in Erica’s story.
It’s always been a dream of mine to visit Greece so this was a great look into what it was like maybe 60+ years ago. As I’m sure from reading this book alone, things are probably different now than back then. I would still love to go and I’m glad I had the chance to read this book.
Thank you Algonquin Books for allowing me to be a part of this blog tour and for sending me a paperback copy.
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