The Unconditional Nature of Love and Fate

Da Nang, Vietnam. June 2001. Polimnia is standing on the top deck of the cruiser. A watershed moment in her life as she painfully evokes memories of the past twenty-eight years, her existence to date a kaleidoscopic sequence of tragically ill-fated events. What quirks of fate lie in wait for her hereafter? Will she be privy to the underlying secret issues currently unbeknown to her? Her heart aches, yearning to be reunited with her only child, Ruth. The Unconditional Nature of Love and Fate, comprising approximately 106,000 words, shifts effortlessly back and forth in time and space for nearly thirty-five years of Polimnia's life, focusing on the paradoxical tensions between free will and what is written in the stars. Born in the United States but raised in Athens, Greece, she graduates from an American university in Connecticut. There are secrets lurking in Polimnia's past. Secrets that are never disclosed. Secrets that cause anguish and pain to her loved ones. Daniel, the Jewish father of her illegitimate child is blown to smithereens in Da Nang in 1972. Daniel's widowed mother and survivor of the Holocaust, Helena, is resolute in her determination to raise solely her granddaughter. Polimnia conceals the existence of her daughter, once she returns home to Athens and is reconciled to a future without her child - brought up to believe that her mother died in childbirth. The hubristic belief that Polimnia has everything under control culminates in the undoing of her marriage to her Greek husband, whose heart she so tragically breaks. In the aftermath of his death, Polimnia is reunited with her daughter in New York following the 9/11 terrorist attacks on the Twin Towers in New York. Ruth is now romantically involved with Suleiman, a Turkish national, and they will relocate together to Istanbul. A chain of events is set in motion and the capricious whims of the gods play havoc with the lives of both mother and daughter. Once more, the Fates control the inevitable sequel of circumstances that are destined to unfold. The Unconditional Nature of Love and Fate, an evocative and heart-rending story of love and loss, is inspired by the author's own unique life experiences and the protagonists' personalities are depictions of actual individuals. The underlying themes of hubris and nemesis are central to her novel and the lives of the key players are manipulated and subsequently governed by the throes of fate. Both mother and daughter manage eventually to bounce back and rebound - rising from the ashes with admirable resilience, even after reaching the nadir of their suffering.