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North of Ithaka (Paperback)

by Eleni Gage (Author)

4.1 out of 5 stars See all reviews (7 customer reviews)

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Eleni (Panther) by Nicholas Gage
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Product details

Paperback: 289 pages
Publisher: Bantam Books; New edition edition (4 Jul 2005)
Language English
ISBN-10: 0553815962
ISBN-13: 978-0553815962
Product Dimensions: 19.6 x 12.6 x 2.6 cm

Average Customer Review: 4.1 out of 5 stars See all reviews (7 customer reviews)

Amazon.co.uk Sales Rank: 204,188 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Product 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 folkiore, literature, language and history, Eleni's story is unfallingly witty and wise. But beneath it all lie the indelible stains of a real-life Greek tragedy.

About the Author

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.

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	50% buy the item featured on this page: North of Ithaka 4.1 out of 5 stars (7) �6.98
	17% buy Eleni (Panther) 4.8 out of 5 stars (10) �6.98
	15% buy It's All Greek to Me!: A Tale of a Mad Dog and an Englishman, Ruins, Retsina - And Real Greeks 4.7 out of 5 stars (18) �6.49
	10% buy The Summer of My Greek Taverna: A Memoir 4.2 out of 5 stars (5) �4.79

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Customer Reviews

7 Reviews

5 star:		(4)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

Average Customer Review

4.1 out of 5 stars (7 customer reviews)

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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

23 of 24 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A journery to re-build the family home in rural Greece, 15 April 2005

By	"cath1961" - See all my reviews

This review is from: North of Ithaka (Hardcover)

Eleni Gage takes after her father and is aptly named after her heroic grandmother. This is the journey of Eleni Gage when she travels back to the family home in Lia, Greece to rebuild the home of her grandmother Eleni. To read this book, you must first have read ELENI by her father Nick Gage (the best book ever written!), only then can you understand the journey that Eleni takes. It is a joy to read about the friends she makes and how with each layer of the house completed, she falls under the spell of this enchanting village. Yet you never forget the dark secrets of the past. How her grandmother was held prisoner in the basement of the house and tortured before being shot to death for the crime of protecting her children. How hard it must have been for Nick and his sister to return to see the house that they grew up in standing tall once again.

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22 of 23 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Lia Revisited, 20 Feb 2005

By	Alekos (Cancun, Quintana Roo Mexico) - See all my reviews

This review is from: North of Ithaka (Hardcover)

It comes as no surprise that Eleni Gage turns out to be a gifted writer. It runs in the blood, I guess. Her father is the well known Nicholas Gage who wrote, among other fine books, one about his mother Eleni who was murdered by Communist guerrillas in the Greek civil war just after WW II. When I read it a few years ago it left me in a state of shock for about a week.
The present more upbeat work recounts the author's yearlong stay in the village of Lia, close to the Albanian border, where she succeeds in rebuilding the very house in which her grandmother and other villagers were kept prisoners before being brutally murdered more than a half-century earlier.
The author wants to strengthen her sense of rootedness in Epirus while holding on to the values and habits of thought she has acquired as an American woman. She wants to fit into life in her ancestral village without being seduced by a mindset she has been conditioned to reject - or at least question. She encounters lots of customs and practices that can be classed as superstition or magic (or even idolatry) that the locals think are part of Christianity but which she finds only marginally acceptable. Most of the people she runs into treat her with great kindness and become her friends even though none of them are nearly as well educated as she. They are mostly old or elderly.
The author experiences some emotional turmoil as the reconstruction process runs into some snags and delays, and as she has to deal with bureaucrats and others whose venality and incompetence would make a less motivated person wonder if it is all worth it. An almost constant presence in the book is the author's earthy Aunt Kanta, the Greek-born American lady who speaks imperfect English, believes everything in America is perfect, and has opinions on every conceivable topic, including why her niece is single and what she should do to get married. Even though Kanta is very in-your-face and sometimes a pain in the neck, she is still lovable. And so are the villagers. And so are the undocumented Albanians who cross the border looking for work.
What I liked most about this book, apart from its being very well written and sometimes lyrical, is its spirit of optimism and hope for the future - of humanity.

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1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Great story and it is true, 1 Jan 2009

By	Scott Leslie (Newcastle-upon-Tyne,England) - See all my reviews

I have not finished reading this book yet and tell you the truth i want to go on and on reading it i dont want her to go back to the USA i want her to stay in Lia i love the book i love the way it has been wrote highly recommened.

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Most Recent Customer Reviews

5.0 out of 5 stars I want to go there!
At last an intelligently well-written book about a 'foreigner' in Greece who isn't saying 'aren't Greeks funny with their odd little ways' but 'Aren't I odd that I didn't know... Read more

Published 3 months ago by Mrs. I. E. Aldridge

4.0 out of 5 stars North of Ithaka
Well written book,Elini is as good a writer as her father (Nicholas). Her observations of Greek people and their culture are very interesting.

Published 9 months ago by Bruce Richardson

5.0 out of 5 stars North of Ithaca - Eleni Gage
Arrived within 2 days and I read it straight off cover to cover. Very engaging and charmingly written. Read more

Published 9 months ago by Mrs. L. Welland

1.0 out of 5 stars Loved Eleni but not this book
I loved Eleni, wow what a book and an amazing story and having a greek background im always on the look out for good books but this particular book was a big let down, boring and... Read more

Published 9 months ago by Kasta

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