Thirty-Eight Days of Rain
Reviewed By Janet Mawdesley March 10, 2024
Author Eva Asprakis
Distributor: Amazon
ISBN: 9781399976930
Publisher: Nielsen UK
Release Date: March 2024
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It’s raining when Androullah is diagnosed with polycystic ovarian syndrome and understands what it will mean to her ability to eventually have a baby. She is young, aged twenty-four, in love with her husband Giannis and still believes in the chance that she will be granted Cypriot citizenship, as will Giannis: eventually.
As she and Giannis try to come to terms her diagnosis, he must to return to Australia as his visa has expired. While he is in Australia waiting for his new Visa, Androullah decides to experiment with extra-mariatal sex, a decision which, even though we are left unaware of what happened, almost destroys her marriage.
Over one year the story unfolds, wrapped around the challenges of dealing with Immigration, the dreams that fail to come to fruition, the book that is almost but not quite accepted for publication and the dreariness of days of what seems like endless rain; 38 days to be precise.
As Androullah emerges from the self-centeredness of young adulthood, to the more mature perspectives that sorrow and past tragedies bring, she becomes a far more dimensional character; a woman who eventually comes into her own strength and purpose.
Thirty-Eight Days Of Rain is a delicate balance between growing up and grown up, which after a somewhat torturous beginning, moves into a better flow, as Androullah and Giannis finally understand what it is that is really important in their lives; parenthood, becoming Cypriots, family, their life together or chasing what seems to be an impossible dream.
Eva Asprakis has chosen polycystic ovarian syndrome (POC), a condition that affects between 8-13 percent of young women of childbearing age, while up to 70 percent of women remain undiagnosed as the nucleus of story.
Within the structure of the story she details the effects, treatment of POC and the emotional toll it can take on young women trying to fall pregnant, while shining a light on what the World Health Organization considers as one of the most undiagnosed, common causes of infertility affecting women.