Tales from Riding House Street: A faded London house and the Cypriots who lived in it

In Riding House Street in the West End of London, a young Greek Cypriot couple, Photis Evangelou and Vasilou Ktori, carved out a life for themselves through the Depression, World War II and into the Swinging Sixties. London’s burgeoning Greek Cypriot community also included Panagis, the “tough guy’ who wore a hair net, Panos, the boy with an alarming interest in chemistry, and enough aunts, uncles and cousins to fill a double-decker bus. In this vivid memoir, Helen Evangelou pays tribute to the enterprise and spirit of the Greek Cypriots, evokes the grit and glory of 20th-century London, and honours her indefatigable parents, for whom Cyprus and its magical beauty never stopped calling.