Georgia K. Fountoulakis

How Many Years

This novella is a sweeping tale of love, against a backdrop of civil unrest and ideological tensions in Cyprus, beginning in 1959. Love prevails between childhood friends of separate cultures and religions. With carefree innocence, Barış and Irini grow up together in Nicosia, where Europe and Asia collide. They are inevitably drawn into events linked to Cypriot strife and respond to this turmoil of a divided society. Barış joins an initiative to free Cyprus of Greek, Turkish, and British forces with Irini and his daughter Aleyna at his side. This story of adventure, fervor, and personal heroism endures upheaval in Cyprus as well as religious and cultural differences.

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The Ottoman's Assistant

In 1920, a Greek woman feels abandoned, even when an Ottoman government official saves her from the hardships occurring in İznik. Pressed into service as his assistant, she hides behind a false identity. To survive and maintain her cover, circumstances force her to stand by as Ottomans further their plans toward the Greeks. Suspecting her employer is a man of compassion with hidden depths and sympathies, she cautiously appeals to him on behalf of these Greeks. As she pours herself into efforts to keep Greeks safe, she finds herself battling a growing attraction for this man she should despise, risking the revelation of her identity. Her bravery brings her to the point of ultimate sacrifice. To save other Greeks, she may be unable to save herself.

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Love in Jasenovac

A young Ustashe soldier stationed in Jasenovac, Croatia in 1941 finds himself in a time and place that promises the birth of a new nation. Despite the consequences, he spares a Serbian woman’s life. While he has never participated in bloodletting, he also has done nothing to stop it and wonders whether his soul can be saved. Will the woman he protected be a key to his redemption?

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Kyril and Zoe

This novella takes place from 1452-1453 in Constantinople during its siege and fall where the Byzantine Empire, having shrunk to a shadow of its former glory is crumbling. When Kyril, a visionary and world-weary traveler meets Zoe, a nobleman’s daughter, the pair instantly falls in love. As the city prepares to face a massive Turkish army, Kyril and Zoe pursue an indescribable romance.

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Themis and Adlee

When two women go to a clinic in Crete to give birth to their first children, this short story mirrors the 1923 Treaty of Lausanne.

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Echoes of Resilience

This novella portrays the harsh conditions facing women immigrants in New York City during the early 1900s and the actions one took to fight exploitation.

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Armela

This novel takes place from 1992-1993 in Bosnia. Armela, a 19-year-old Bosnian Serb, has been married just over a year when the Bosniaks attack Srebrenica. Her husband Armin disappears underground. In the dead of night, his friends take her to live with his Bosniak aunt. Armela adopts a new identity as Jasmina Akel. At a dinner party, Armin’s aunt introduces her to a high-ranking Bosniak official, who hires her to work as his assistant. Her husband’s friends urge her to use this position to access details of forthcoming Bosniak attacks. She endangers her safety—and her marriage vows—to help her husband’s cause. As the atrocities of Bosniaks intensify, so does her relationship with the Bosniak official, building to a climax that risks her double life and the lives of those she loves.

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The Weight of Our Hearts

This novel intricately weaves historical details with a compelling narrative to portray love and espionage during 1916 when the Ottomans sought to break down the Armenian community’s economic, cultural, and political existence and reduce it to a powerless remnant under state control. Set in Constantinople, this novel follows Lieutenant Levon, a military intelligence officer decoding carrier pigeon messages. When he intercepts one addressed to him, he believes it to be from Dalita Kazarian, the Armenian woman who once saved his life but whom he thought lost in the genocide. Drawn by duty and longing, Levon agrees to meet her, only to discover Dalita’s half-sister, Davitina, behind the message. Davitina, working in a dovecote, believes Dalita is alive but held captive by a Turkish informant. Though skeptical, Levon joins her on a dangerous mission across the Ottoman Empire. Facing espionage, betrayal, and violence, the two gradually build trust and confront their traumas regarding Levon’s PTSD and Davitina’s longing for belonging. Their quest entangles them in rival intelligence networks and a perilous plot threatening their lives. Ultimately, their resilience, faith, and growing love guide them toward healing and redemption, underscoring themes of trust, forgiveness, and survival.

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The Land Holds Their Names

This short story traces the slow unraveling of Indigenous life in California, from first European contact in the 1700s through U.S. statehood in the 1800s. Told through a lyrical, omniscient voice that alternates between the perspectives of the powerful and the witness-like Indigenous people, the narrative interweaves intimate human experiences with sweeping historical forces. This short story contrasts the bureaucratic language of law, contracts, and ledgers with the enduring memory of rivers, forests, mountains, and children who carry ancestral knowledge.

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