Book description
Eleni Gage, a young journalist living in New York, leaves her
Manhattan flat to return to the remote but beautiful Greek village of
Lia in northern Greece and rebuild her ruined ancestral home. But this
is not just another tale of quaint rustic DIY - the house was the
scene of imprisonment and torture, and its ruins are stalked by the
ghosts of the Greek Civil War.
The story is played out in the stunning mountainous landscape of
Epiros, one of the least-visited regions of Europe. As Eleni becomes
part of the village, her neighbours and the house come vividly to life
while her own disasters, triumphs and self-discoveries are alternately
poignant and hilarious. The cast of characters includes Eleni's
formidable yet miniscule aunts - the thitsas, who fear that she will
be eaten by wolves; her immigrant Albanian builders; and the residents
of modern-day Lia, whose feelings about the rebuilding of a house
where such terrible events took place are ambivalent at best.
Informed by her knowledge of Greece's folklore, literature, language
and history, Eleni's story is unfailingly witty and wise. But beneath
it all lie the indelible stains of a real-life Greek tragedy.
Eleni Gage is the daughter of Nicholas Gage, whose international
bestseller
Eleni
told the story of his mother's imprisonment and eventual execution
during the Greek Civil War. This is her first book.
