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Farewell Anatolia
by Dido Sotiriou
Farewell Anatolia is a tale of paradise lost and of shattered innocence; a tragic fresco of the fall of Hellenism in Asia Minor; a stringing indictment of Great Power politics, oil-lust and corruption. Dido Sotiriou’s novel -a perennial bestseller in Greece since it first appeared in 1962- tells the story of Manolis Axiotis, a poor but resourceful villager born near the ancient ruins of Ephesus. Axiotis is a fictional protagonist and eyewitness to an authentic nightmare: Greece’s "Asia Minor Catastrophe", the death or expulsion of two million Greeks from Turkey by Kemal Attaturk’s revolutionary forces in the late summer of 1922. Manolis Axiotis’ chronicle of personal fortitude, betrayed hope, and defeat resonates with the greater tragedy of two nations: Greece, vanquished and humiliated; Turkey, bloodily victorious. Two neighbours linked by bonds of culture and history yet diminished by mutual greed, cruelty and bloodshed. "Farewell Anatolia" was hailed as a major contribution to reconciliation between the two neighbours.
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Out of Key
by Dimitris Sotakis
What exactly happened during that rehearsal? Why did the choirmaster harbour so much hatred? F is an amateur musician surrounded by dismal scores and false notes. He falls into the ambush prepared by the world's 'greatest musicians'. However, F cannot remember hitting the wrong note; he's a good singer and absolutely adamant that it wasn't him, however much the choirmaster and his friends insist that it was. Determined to prove his innocence, he discovers that nothing is straightforward anymore, and that life with a beautiful voice is nothing but a sick joke.
The Mermaid Madonna
by Stratis Myrivilis
This modern Greek classic by Stratis Myrivilis, translated into delightful English by Abott Rick, presents a vivid portrayal of the life of an Aegean fishing community and the problems which beset it.
Set in the island of Lesbos or Mytilene, not far from the coast of Turkish Anatolia, the book gives an extraordinary subtle and haunting picture of Greek island life, it's beauty and it's suffering; it's vitality and it's tragic view of the world.
The Greek Passion
by Nikos Kazantzakis
The Greek Passion tells the story of a Greek village under Turkish rule and how the lives of the villagers are changed, some tragically, some to self-fulfillment by the roles they play in the annual drama of the Passion of Christ. The book is a work of high artistic order and like all of Kazantzakis novels contain important spiritual messages, as well as being plain old enjoyable and entertaining reading.