Acts of Love

A beautiful and strongly sexual young woman seeks security and certainty within her husband's Greek-American family but is soon on the move again, toward an inevitable final reckoning.


Disturbing, controversial and shocking, this novel, set in the turbulent 1980's, tells the story of two people from different generations, and with two very different perspectives on life, whose destinies become entangled in a tragic and destructive way.

Kosta is a conservative Greek immigrant in the United States for whom Greek traditions determine the right path of life for his family. With a steady hand the rather dogmatic man maneuvers the actions of his wife, his son, and his close relatives. He is strict, demanding, and frightening. Kosta doesn't allow any deviation from the righteousness and virtuousness of the Christian faith. He keeps his wife under control, showing her the exact place of a woman in the 1980s which, in his world, means in the house taking care of her husband. Kosta also attempts to control the life of his only son, Tedi, until Tedi meets his new bride-to-be, Ethel. Unfortunately, the new bride is far from the obedient Greek wife of the old world. She is emancipated, passionate, impulsive, and strong.

This was his fourth best-selling novel and garnered a $1 million dollar advance in the late 70's!

Elia Kazan was an award-winning film and theatre director, film and theatrical producer, screenwriter, novelist and co-founder of the influential Actors Studio in New York in 1947. Kazan was a three-time Academy Award winner, a five-time Tony Award winner, a four-time Golden Globes winner, as well as a recipient of numerous awards and nominations in other prestigious festivals as the Cannes Film Festival and the Venice Film Festival.