I'd Like

An aging writer, fragile and flawed. A father trying to win back the daughters he has lost. A mother trying on her daughter's pointe shoes when no one else is home. Two sisters in their eighties, sharing a home after decades spent apart.
The thirteen short stories that make up Amanda Michalopoulou's I'd Like read like versions of an unwritten novel: each riveting tale resonates with the others, and yet a sense of their connectedness remains tantalizingly out of grasp. Instead, we are presented with a kaleidoscope of characters and events, signs and emotions, linked by the uncanny repetition of certain details: blossoming almond trees, red berets, bleeding feet, accidents small and large. Michalopoulou's characters are both patently fictitious and profoundly real, as they move through a world in which even the smallest of everyday occurrences can take on enormous significance. Engagingly fresh in its approach, I'd Like offers a touching, utterly unique reading experience from one of Greece's most innovative young storytellers.

Amanda Michalopoulou was born in Athens, Greece in 1966. She has had a daily newspaper column in Kathimerini since 1990, and is the author of four novels, two short story collections, and a successful series of children’s books. She has won various awards, in particular for her first short story collection, Life is Colourful Outside, and her first novel, Wishbone Memories. She currently lives in Athens.