Georgios Vizyenos was born in 1849 in the small town of Vizye (Vize in Turkish), to the north-west of Constantinople (Istanbul). His whole life was a struggle with family and personal tragedy. His father died when the boy was five years old; two of his sisters perished in early childhood; and one of his brothers died in mysterious circumstances. Despite these inauspicious beginnings, he studied in Germany and became one of the leading Greek poets and short-story writers. Eventually, however, his psychological traumas took their toll, and he spent his last four years in Daphni mental asylum, where he died in 1896.

"Refined language and close observations mark Vizyenos's dense prose. Charged with strong emotions and a love of nature, it is a triumph that the stories' romanticism comes across fresh and true today. The demanding, complex tales are replete with character development, probing psychology and detailed descriptions.” — Publishers Weekly

"Vizyenos brings into question the nature of identity and of reality as constructed by reason and senses.” — Roderick Beaton Director, Centre of Hellenic Studies, King’s College London