Ariadne's Dream

Carol A. Stos is an assistant professor of Spanish Studies at Laurentian
University.

Ariadne Hatzidakis goes to Greece because she is bored with her life in
Montreal. In Athens and desperately lonely, she falls instantly and
fatally in love with Yannis Vissinos, a musician hooked on heroin.
Theirs is a passionate, consuming, and violent relationship. When he
irrevocably betrays her, Ariadne escapes to Nysas, an island overrun
with hedonistic budget tourists. There she takes a dreadful job
waitressing in an ersatz jazz bar, and has many other lovers. She tries
to forget Yannis, but can’t. Forgetfulness is not one of her gifts.
Then Yannis reappears in her life and it seems as if the fate that has
always been waiting for her will be fulfilled: the gods have brought
Ariadne to the very edge of death, but at Aphrodite’s urging, Ariadne
is set free to decide her own destiny.

Fragoulis does not set out Ariadne’s story in the linear fashion
described above: the novel begins “in media res” and we, along with
Ariadne, are drawn inexorably into the twists and turns of her life as
it zigs and zags back and forth between what happens in Athens, what is
happening on Nysas, and what the gods are doing. Names are important, we
are told, and thus it is no surprise that in Ariadne’s life there is a
Medea, a Theseus, and an island called Nysas (Naxos). But there is also
Karina, Petros, Daniel, and Julian. Different characters tell parts of
the story, and these sometimes become part of Ariadne’s story as
Fragoulis skilfully gathers the threads of their lives and fates. Human
frailty, hopes, ambitions, dreams, illusions, insatiable longings, and
passions are all vividly exposed in a prose that is edgy, often lyrical,
bold, ironic, sharp, and delicate. Ariadne’s Dream, like a dream,
redefines the limits of our experiences and our expectations. An
intriguing read.