Monodromos

'MONODROMOS', ENGEL'S THIRD NOVEL, CONCERNS AUDREY MOORE-- CANADIAN, INTELLIGENT AND 36 -- AND HER EXPERIENCE IN THE EASTERN MEDITERRANEAN ISLAND ONCE SACRED TO APHRODITE. STAYING WITH THEIR ESTRANGED HUSBAND, A HAS-BEEN CONCERT PIANIST, SHE ATTEMPTS TO FATHOM THE RICH CULTURE CONFUSION OF AN ISLAND WHICH HAS CHANGED HANDS A HUNDRED TIMES SINCE CLEOPATRA GAVE IT TO ANTHONY AS A WEDDING PRESENT. TROUBLED BY MEMORIES OF HER PAST IN ENGLAND AND CANADA, SHE FINDS A GREEK LOVER AND A CIRCLE OF EXPATRIATES, ARTISTS, FRIENDS AND DOUBTFUL ACQUAIN- TANCES. HER DEEPENING INVOLVEMENT WITH ISLAND LIFE AND LANDSCAPE PROVIDE HER WITH MANY INSIGHTS, BUT SHE HAD ALSO A SENSE THAT THIS PLACE, FOR HER, IS A ONE-WAY STREET 'MONODROMOS' IN GREEK. THE GROWING TENSIONS IN THE BOOK ERUPT IN A GRIPPING, TRAGIC-COMIC FINALE, AS SHE VISITS AN ORTHODOX MONASTERY AND DISCOVERS THAT SHE WHO TRAVELS ALONE DOES NOT NECESSARILY TRAVEL BEST.