Thursday 3 July 2025
Get the Complete 12 Part The Writer’s Guide To Help You Write, Publish and Market Your Book… Click here for full details
Get the Complete 12 Part The Writer’s Guide To Help You Write, Publish and Market Your Book… Click here for full details
In A Nutshell
“An authentic story about love and life in all its messy, unpredictable, imperfect glory.
A truly heart-warming read.” Jane Lacey-Crane
If you’re looking for a book that will keep you captive, between its pages, until you’ve reached the end, then this is it. A story about overcoming adversity in all its forms, it will have you rooting for the characters as they fight for real love. Sexy and passionate it’s written in a beautiful and sensitive prose.
Trust is a big word, when life has always let you down. And everyone deserves love a second time around, don’t they?
Alexander, locked in a loveless, cold marriage, has melted into the hum-drum of life, hiding behind his cerebral palsy. Maria, a single mother, is still reeling from her husband’s gambling and abandonment from years before.
They click with their first tweet.
Alexander and Maria is my third novel and the first to be published through a literary press, The Conrad Press. The ebook is out on 30 November 2020 and the paperback will be available in the UK to start with from 10 December 2020.
It’s a fabulously exciting time for me as an author to be working with an industry specialist who believes in my work (we all need that extra endorsement every now and again!) and who has also nominated the book for the Royal Society of Literature Ondaatje Prize 2021.
‘I’m just off now, Sandra sweetheart.’ She barely gives me a sideways glance; flicking from one TV channel to the other, puffing on her cigarette. I open the front door, Caramel slinks past me; the morning’s icy blast lapping at my feet. She disappears, like a garden ghost, behind the emerald privet hedge, glistening with the morning frost, and emerging again, she dashes across the road. I envy her speed, her agility, her freedom to come and go. My envy is tinged green in the whites of my eyes and in the recesses of my mind, in my plodding steps.
I’m gutted there’s no reply. My stomach tightens in knots. I go over different reasons to contact her again but can’t find any and there are no new tweets from her for the rest of the evening. My thoughts drive me crazy. Is she married? Is she unhappy in her marriage or unhappy because she’s not? She hasn’t yet mentioned anyone. I hold onto the hope she’s not in a relationship.
My inspiration for this modern love story came from two people who I had the pleasure of crossing paths with in two separate serendipitous moments.
The man and woman, now friends, have cerebral palsy which is most evident from the waist down. Both walk with the aid of a walking stick.
The man I met through Twitter, just like Alexander in the book. I had many face-to-face meetings with him and he shared some of his most intimate feelings and experiences with me which helped in building a credible character in Alexander. He also read the parts in the book, prior to its release, to ensure nothing I had written would be construed as offensive to anyone with CP.
The woman I met at a presentation at The London Book Fair in 2018 when we sat next to each other and got chatting. She was fascinated with my story idea and we talked about emotions and the physical impact of CP on her marriage and her relationship. She had written a memoir, based on her own experiences and I have a signed copy of her book. I will always be grateful to her for sharing her story with me.
I also wanted to show how social media can bring people together in a positive way, bringing new opportunities and how connections made online can be as real as any, especially in light of some of the most recent negative stories we read about in the news.
Review by BOOKS AND AUTHORS UK:
What a story! Christodoulou’s books have always appealed to me from when I first read Broken Pieces of Tomorrow. Each one of her books brings something new to the page, family, history, broken marriage, an adventure in India, and now, we have a forbidden relationship with one half of the love interest is fighting to live through a disability.
As I was reading this I felt the author either has experienced this through the eyes of another, or she has done a tremendous about of research. Alexander and Maria is fast-paced, engaging and as I went through every chapter there was always that urge to wonder what was going to happen next.
I truly enjoyed this book and had been waiting for the next read from this author. It was worth the wait. Highly recommended.
Review by AMAZON VERIFIED PURCHASE:
If you are looking to read a different kind of a love story which will keep you captivated until the end, this book is for you!
I absolutely loved the characters and their life stories told in a way that relates to many of us.
A must read!
