{"product_id":"the-greek-house-the-story-of-a-painters-love-affair-with-the-island-of-sifnos-9780374535261","title":"The Greek House: The Story of a Painter's Love Affair with the Island of Sifnos","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eA richly rewarding narrative about a young painter's love affair with the Greek island of Sifnos\u003c\/b\u003e \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eWhen Christian Brechneff first set foot on the Greek island of Sifnos, it was the spring of 1972 and he was a twenty-one-year-old painter searching for artistic inspiration and a quiet place to work. There, this Swiss child of Russian émigrés, adrift and confused about his sexuality, found something extraordinary. In Sifnos, he found a muse, a subject he was to paint for years, and a sanctuary.\u003cbr\u003e In \u003ci\u003eThe Greek House\u003c\/i\u003e, Brechneff tells a funny, touching narrative about his relationship to Sifnos, writing with warmth about its unforgettable residents and the house he bought in a hilltop farm village. This is the story of how he fell in love with Greece, and how it became a haven from the complexities of his life in Western Europe and New York. It is the story of his village and of the island during the thirty-odd years he owned the house--from a time when there were barely any roads, to the arrival of the modern world with its tourists and high-speed boats and the euro. And it is the story of the end of the love affair--how the island changed and he changed, how he discovered he had outgrown Sifnos, or couldn't grow there anymore.\u003cbr\u003e \u003ci\u003eThe Greek House\u003c\/i\u003e is a celebration of place and an honest narrative of self-discovery. In its pages, a naïve and inexperienced young man comes into his own. Weaving himself into the life of the island, painting it year after year, he finds a place he can call home.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eBinding Type:\u003c\/b\u003e Paperback\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublisher:\u003c\/b\u003e Farrar, Straus and Giroux\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublished:\u003c\/b\u003e 01\/20\/2015\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eISBN:\u003c\/b\u003e 9780374535261\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePages:\u003c\/b\u003e 304\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eWeight:\u003c\/b\u003e 0.70lbs\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eSize:\u003c\/b\u003e 7.90h x 5.70w x 0.90d","brand":"Christian Brechneff, Tim Lovejoy","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":42935382802613,"sku":"9780374535261","price":18.69,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0473\/0804\/6492\/products\/img_fc66fbb1-b691-47f3-9fed-d7762892d165.jpg?v=1688487942","url":"https:\/\/pastforward.org\/products\/the-greek-house-the-story-of-a-painters-love-affair-with-the-island-of-sifnos-9780374535261","provider":"Past Forward","version":"1.0","type":"link"}