Susan Johnson in-conversation with Claudine Tinellis

In life, as in myth, women are the ones who are supposed to stay home like Penelope, weaving at their looms, rather than leaving home like Odysseus. 

Meet eighty-five-year-old Barbara and her sixty-two-year-old writer–daughter. Susan, who asked her mother—on a whim—if she wanted to accompany her to live on the Greek island of Kythera. What follows is a moving unravelling of the mother–daughter relationship told in irresistible prose.

Aphrodite's Breath is a strikingly original, funny and forensic examination of love and finding home, amid the stories of the people, olives and wonders of the birthplace of Aphrodite.

Susan Johnson is the author of eleven books (two non-fiction books, On Beauty, Melbourne University Press; a memoir on motherhood, illness and writing, A Better Woman); and eight novels, published in Australia and in Europe, the UK and US. Her ninth novel, From Where I Fell, was published in 2021 and was shortlisted for the Voss Literary Award. She has lived in Hong Kong, Paris, London and most recently in Greece. Her sons, Caspar and Elliot, live in London. Her work has been longlisted for the Miles Franklin Literary Award, the Dublin IMPAC Literary Award and shortlisted for the Queensland Premier's Prize, the Voss Literary Prize, the Christina Stead Award, the National Biography Award and the Commonwealth Writers' Prize, among others.

Claudine Tinellis is a Sydney-based author, podcaster and presenter. A former corporate lawyer, Claudine ventured into the world of publishing in 2014 as the editor of ‘Coastal Chef: Culinary Art of Seaweed & Algae in the 21st Century’ and in the years since has dedicated herself to writing fiction.Claudine is also the host and producer of ‘Talking Aussie Books’ – a popular podcast bringing readers and writers of Australian fiction together. With more than 200 different authors interviewed to date, Talking Aussie Books has been ranked number one Australian reading and writing podcast (Feedspot) for 2022 and 2023.