Sara Alexi was born in Oxford, England. She has travelled widely and now splits her time between her home in England and a tiny rural village in the Peloponnese, in Greece, where she is (very slowly!) renovating a ruined stone farmhouse, whilst observing the Greek way of life and absorbing the culture, to enrich her vision for both writing and painting.
Sara began writing later in life. In school English lessons were a time of confusion, books indecipherable hieroglyphics. Dyslexia was not well understood then and no support was available. She discovered that Agatha Christie, Jules Verne and Hans Christian Andersen were all dyslexic and Sara’s perspective changed. The world of fiction opened to her with this shift in perception and she has been a prolific writer ever since.
Despite her dyslexia Sara qualified as a psychotherapist and ran her own practice for years. Her artistic nature was, at that time, confined to painting and she exhibited widely.
Her ‘Greek Village’ series has been very well received and provides a keenly observed, compassionate insight into the Greek people and culture. Sara’s books are an easy read and ideal to take on holiday.
The Illegal Gardener – Book 1
Book one of the Greek village series tells the story of one summer in the village from the perspectives of two outsiders, both recently arrived in Greece, but each from a very different back ground. Juliet is an English expat who has bought a house in the village. Aaman is a Pakistani illegal immigrant looking for work. Juliet employs Aaman to help clear her garden, and the relationship that develops touches them both deeply and changes them both forever.
Black Butterflies – Book 2
The second book in the series follows Marina, the village shopkeeper, as she embarks on a courageous mission to stop her daughter Eleni from making an unsuitable match. Eleni is enraged by her mother’s meddling, but as the story unfolds we discover that both mother and daughter have guilty secrets that each dreads the other discovering. This is a moving, compassionate tale of love, heartache and forgiveness, that will make you laugh and cry.
A Handful of Pebbles – Book 7
This story is about Sarah’s personal journey and how her visit to a Greek Village wakes her up from what appears to be a long sleep of 26 years. She is on holiday with her husband and friends to attend to the wedding of her young son Finn. As an 18/19 year old, Sarah was in love with Torin, the brother of her best friend. Unfortunately he dies under tragic circumstances and both Sarah and Liz marry some rich men who are much older than them, who they meet at a golf club for money and a comfortable life. Sarah’s life ends when Torin, the love of her life dies and she just sleep-walks into the marriage. She carries the guilt for this decision and the fact she doesn’t love her husband of 26 years even though she has two sons and her husband, Lawrence who is a bit of a control freak. It’s clear she has no say in their marriage. He makes all the decisions while she is the stay at home wife who cooks and cleans and not much else.