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Back The Black Earth Save as PDF
Chapters (56)
  1. Cover
  2. THE BLACK EARTH
  3. Dedication
  4. Contents
  5. BOOK I
  6. CHAPTER ONE
  7. CHAPTER TWO
  8. CHAPTER THREE
  9. CHAPTER FOUR
  10. CHAPTER FIVE
  11. CHAPTER SIX
  12. CHAPTER SEVEN
  13. BOOK II
  14. CHAPTER EIGHT
  15. CHAPTER NINE
  16. CHAPTER TEN
  17. CHAPTER ELEVEN
  18. CHAPTER TWELVE
  19. CHAPTER THIRTEEN
  20. CHAPTER FOURTEEN
  21. CHAPTER FIFTEEN
  22. CHAPTER SIXTEEN
  23. CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
  24. CHAPTER EIGHTEEN
  25. CHAPTER NINETEEN
  26. CHAPTER TWENTY
  27. BOOK III
  28. CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE
  29. CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO
  30. CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE
  31. CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR
  32. CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE
  33. CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX
  34. CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN
  35. CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT
  36. CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE
  37. CHAPTER THIRTY
  38. CHAPTER THIRTY-ONE
  39. CHAPTER THIRTY-TWO
  40. CHAPTER THIRTY-THREE
  41. CHAPTER THIRTY-FOUR
  42. BOOK IV
  43. CHAPTER THIRTY-FIVE
  44. CHAPTER THIRTY-SIX
  45. CHAPTER THIRTY-SEVEN
  46. CHAPTER THIRTY-EIGHT
  47. CHAPTER THIRTY-NINE
  48. CHAPTER FORTY
  49. CHAPTER FORTY-ONE
  50. CHAPTER FORTY-TWO
  51. CHAPTER FORTY-THREE
  52. CHAPTER FORTY-FOUR
  53. CHAPTER FORTY-FIVE
  54. About the Author
  55. By Philip Kazan
  56. Copyright

With all my love,

Tom

CHAPTER THIRTY

It is 14th April 1944, Zoë’s name-day, and though no one has celebrated her day since the Germans came, she has given herself a couple of hours to enjoy the luxury of sitting in the kitchen, reading an ancient copy of British Vogue, September 1937, that she has found stuffed into a cavity in the wall of her bedroom. Efi is at work and Voula has been in the mountains with the partisans since last summer. She stretches her legs under the table and stares at the cover of the magazine. A coincidence: it is Vogue’s 21st birthday edition, and today is what passes for Zoë’s birthday as well, since she has long forgotten the actual date of her birth. January 1916 is all she remembers. And a spring birthday is – used to be – so much nicer than a winter one. The cover is vaguely surrealist: a purple curtain flaps to reveal blue sky, across which a white unicorn is trotting towards a white birthday cake held aloft by a slender hand. Candles are detaching themselves from the icing and drifting away through the blue. Many Happy Returns, says the writing on the cake. ‘Thank you,’ Zoë murmurs, sighing in anticipation of PARIS FASHIONS from seven years past. It sounds almost normal outside: people coming and going, neighbours sitting on their front steps, chattering, gossiping.