Margarita Liberaki (Greek: Μαργαρίτα Λυμπεράκη) was born in Athens and raised by her grandparents, who ran the Fexis bookstore and publishing house. In addition to Three Summers, an NYRB Classics title, she wrote two further novels, The Other Alexander (1950) and The Mystery (1976); a number of plays, including Candaules’ Wife (1955) and The Danaïds (1956), part of a cycle she called Mythical Theater; several screenplays, including Jules Dassin’s Phaedra (1962) and Diaspora (1999), about Greek intellectuals in exile in Paris during the junta; and a translation of Treasure Island (2000).
Three Summers is now a standard part of Greek and Cypriot public education; it was adapted as a television miniseries in 1995.