Sophia Kouidou-Giles was born in Thessaloniki, Greece, and university educated in the USA. Her work has appeared in Voices, Persimmon Tree, Assay, The Raven’s Perch, Story Wits, Women Writers Women Books, The Fantasy Hive, and The Blue Nib. Her poetry chapbook is Transitions and Passages. Her work has appeared in anthologies, including The Time Collection, Visual Verse, and Art in the Time of Unbearable Crisis. She is also the author of the memoir Επιστροφή Στη Θεσσαλονίκη/Return to Thessaloniki, published in Greek (Tyrfi Press); Sophia’s Return: Uncovering My Mother’s Past (She Writes Press); and the novella An Unexpected Ally (She Writes Press). Giles loves music, walking outdoors and travel. She lives in the Pacific Northwest, near her son, daughter-in-law, and two grandsons.

After her parents’ divorce, seven-year-old Sophia is raised by her paternal grandmother and, later, her father’s second wife. She visits her mother on weekends until she finishes her high school, after which she moves to the US to complete her post-secondary studies and launch a career in child welfare.

Decades later, Sophia travels back to Greece, determined to find her mother’s grave and finally learn about the reasons for her parents’ divorce. As she digs, she begins to realize how clashing cultures between her Greek-born mother and her father’s early years in Turkey wreaked havoc on the marriage. Determined to unlock the true story, she interviews family members, all of whom are sympathetic but reluctant to disclose information. Finally, she hires an attorney and resorts to document searching—and uncovers a story she never knew existed.

Written with illuminating insights and a mature understanding of what forced her mother’s decision to abandon their home, Sophia’s compassionate, authentic recounting of her journey will encourage those who search for the truth to persist in seeking answers to life’s unanswered questions