Eleni (Panther)
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Product Description
Book Description
'Not only a son's poignant memorial to his dead mother but an important work of history' Observer
Product Description
In 1948, in a Greek mountain village, Eleni Gatzoyiannis was arrested, tortured and shot.She was one of the 158,000 victims of the Greek Civil War.Her crime had been to help her children escape from the Communist guerrillas who occupied their village.Her son, Nicholas Gage, was then eight years old.Eleni is the story of his obsessive and harrowing reconstruction of his mother's life and death and his pursuit of his mother's killer
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
27 of 27 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
This is a truely great book. It tells a gripping and often harrowing story of a mother determined to protect her children from the ravages of the Greek civil War at all costs and ultimately her own life. This is a book I have read 3 times and it doesn't get any easier to read how Eleni was brutally tortured and murdered by her own people, just for the crime of protecting her children. Eleni conducted her life with love and dignity, she shows compassion for her neighbours and a willingness to forgive that is astounding. People she had known all of her life betray her through fear. This book teaches us the reality of life and death for the people of Greece through the Greek Civil War. However it is also a positive story of triumph over adversity. I highly recommend this book - you can't help but love every minute of it. It is an emotional rollercoaster from start to finish but definitely a book you will not want to put down.
Nick Gage - how hard it must have been to re-live these memories, but I thank you for sharing your story. This is simply my favourite book of all time! There is also a DVD of the story, which although good - it cannot live up to this truely wonderful, emotional book.
Nick Gage - how hard it must have been to re-live these memories, but I thank you for sharing your story. This is simply my favourite book of all time! There is also a DVD of the story, which although good - it cannot live up to this truely wonderful, emotional book.
15 of 15 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
This is an extraodinary book. The tragedy is that it is a story which needed to be told at all. It is a terrible and true account of what happens when ideology (of any persuasion) subsumes our sense of our own and each other's humanity. Though the events took place in Greece during the German occupation, and afterwards during the Greek civil war, it would be dangerous to assume that there aren't lessons here for us all, of whatever political, religious or cultural orientation. Although the story is particular to Greece during the Second World War and its aftermath, it is sadly a story which could have been told many times, with reference to different historical and geographical locations. We keep forgetting how often this story could have been told - how often it is being replayed in different parts of the world today, and how often it may be repeated in the future.
I found myself shaken at the awful story Nicholas Gage had to tell, the terrible events his family experienced, and also so grateful that he did tell this tragic and also wonderful story. Like Wild Swans this is a book which sickens you with the realisation that any one of us, given the right (or wrong) situation might forget our common humanity so easily, and yet also serves as a wonderful testimonial to the existance of something deep, true and heroic in many ordinary people, that enables us sometimes to transcend the ego driven cruel way we can treat each other. Eleni's story is stark, tragic and bleak - but also shows the illuminating and transcending power of love, compassion and and truth.
6 of 6 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
A really moving story, in fact 2 moving stories merged into one. The story of a man's journey to find his mother's killers and the story of his mother's life up to her death intertwined. Really powerful, historically and culturally educational. I've read it three times and recommended it to friends who have wholeheartedly agreed with me in my somewhat gushing praise!
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
Eleni - the book
This has got to be one of the most fascinating books written about one Greek woman & her determination to save her family during the war in Greece. Read more
Published 5 months ago by Zena
A searing and harrowing insight into relatively recent Greek history
I first encountered a serialised version of this book (Probabaly an RD version) as a child and even then it had made a considerable impression on me, even if I was probably too... Read more
Published 7 months ago by PJordan
Straight into my Top Ten!
Unbelievably moving book. Read it whilst on holiday in Greece in 2 days. At the end my husband welcomed me back. I felt completely emotionally drained. Read more
Published 9 months ago by Big Mumma
A personal journey back in history
Quite a horrowing read which follows the lives of ordinary village people caught up in an extraordinary time in their country's history. Read more
Published 10 months ago by Mrs. G. J. Rushbrook
a classic
I read this 20 years ago . It was even better the second time around . An emotional experience , written by someone who is at the top of his powers.
Published 12 months ago by ben
Gripping story and great primer on recent Greek history
"Eleni" is a gripping story on many levels. Eleni was able to save her children from an unspeakably bleak fate but had to sacrifice herself to so do. Read more
Published 15 months ago by weinrichworld
Harrowing, yet essential
Yes this book could be viewed as depressing. However I didn't find it so. Although it does almost tire the reader out with the succession of harrowing events that the heroine lived... Read more
Published 17 months ago
Great book
Book bought for someone else but they say they couldn't put it down. Having recently been to that area of Greece, the book has provided a fascinating insight into life for the... Read more
Published 18 months ago by Mrs. P. M. D. Macintyre
There are still Elenis around the world
This was perhaps the most depressing book I've ever read. Its really well written and so quite readable. Eleni's life was a string of miserable events one after another. Read more
Published 22 months ago by Sontee
An Unforgettable Book
This is quite simply one of the best books I have ever read. It is well written and detailed. It is in places shocking but also so warmly written that you really care about the... Read more
Published on 18 Jan 2010 by Karen
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