In the Shade of the Monkey Puzzle Tree by Sara Alexi 
on 1/27/2014
Mid-life brings problems. For Theo it makes him wonder if there is more to the world than the small village where he has lived all his life and, if there is, how far he needs to go to find it. The path he takes results in an unexpected journey that challenges his perception of everything he knew to be true.
In The Shade of the Monkey Puzzle tells the story of 40-year-old Theo who has been living in a Greek Village and who is desperately trying to cut ties with his overbearing baba (father), so he decides to run away to the larger city of Athens. In Athens, Theo discovers the grass may not be as green as he thought in a new town, meaning people are uncaring and mean-spirited to him unlike the people who live in the village he came from who are caring and kind. But whatever happens to him in Athens is not enough to cause him to run back home so he becomes like the folks of Athens to survive.
His adventure if you will begin when he decides to stay in Athens and he hopes to find love and stability but what he gets are life lessons full of drama that are seemingly never-ending.
The book for me was very slow and I hoped by the end it would pick up but it never did. With that said the author does give the reader insight into Greek culture that I found interesting. Overall, I would recommend this book.
Reviewed by: Linda C.
