Is Aino, the Greek goddess of secrets, a contemporary
fabrication?An archaeology student in Athens is seen on TV by a
five-person "sect" devoted to the goddess. The director, actress,
photographer, goldsmith and antique collector pay the student (the
unnamed narrator) to live at the Aino Hotel, where they can observe
and interrogate him about his past. Meanwhile, he studies them and
pries into their secrets, which include associating with a junta
sympathizer and supporting the drug-addicted sister of an earlier
subject who became their victim. Predictably, there is a secret
chamber in the hotel. As in his first novel, Four Walls (2006),
Hatziyannidis fixates on the effects of enforced isolation. But
here, the initial set-up and subsequent plotting are so contrived
that the book and its Aino codex (yes, there is a codex, as well as
writing on the underside of a drawer) can be read only
allegorically. Just how remains a secret, veiled by the author's
(or translator's) cliches, the narrator's digressions and,
possibly, by a cultural context alien to the non-Greek reader.A
short novel that feels too long. (Kirkus Reviews)
A young poverty-stricken student agrees to spend two weeks in a
remote hotel with a group of strangers in exchange for the
equivalent of five months rent. However, after moving in he
discovers a series of alarming artifacts left by past guests.
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