DEAR BOOKCROSSERS..
WELCOME TO ELENI INTERNATIONAL BOOKRING :)

Hi all..
I'm new to Bookcrossing and this is my first time holding a Book Ray of my own.


This is how it works:

1.) If you wish to be added to the list, please PM me with your details.

2.) Note that you must be prepared to mail internationally.

3.) We will kick off once we have 5 members.

4.) You will be sending the book to the person who appears after you in the list, so you need to PM them to get their address :)

5.) It's not a reading competition, but please take care of the book (don't write/ spill anything on it), read and send the book on as speedily as you can.

6.) Please journal the book once you have received it (so we all know where it currently is) and again when you have read it (so we know what you thought of it)

7.)If you're the last person on the list the book comes back to me.

BOOK DESCRIPTION:

In 1948, as civil war ravaged Greece, children were abducted and sent to communist "camps" inside the Iron Curtain. Eleni Gatzoyiannis, forty-one, defied the traditions of her small village and the terror of the communist insurgents to arrange for the escape of her three daughters and her son, Nicola. For that act, she was imprisoned, tortured, and executed in cold blood.

Nicholas Gage joined his father in Massachusetts at the age of nine and grew up to become a top New York Times investigative reporter, honing his skills with one thought in mind: to return to Greece and uncover the one story he cared about most: the story of his mother.

Eleni takes you into the heart a village destroyed in the name of ideals and into the soul of a truly heroic woman.

Mailing order for this Ring

1.Bilbi-->book's here

2.Midlifecrisis

3.ETMadrid

4.Drusillamac--Book's here

5.Supertalya

CONTROLLED RELEASE NOTES:

This book has been released as a Book Ray to the first person in line,
which is Bilbi in France.

For Bilbi, please journal the book when you have received the book :)

Thank you...
Yaya

Received today !
The stamps and cards are really nice !
I've got two books to read before starting this one !
Thanks again for sharing \o/

A brilliant and very emotional book !
I learnt a lot about Greece during the Second World War and its Civil War.
It's amazing how Eleni kept thinking about her husband and how he would react if she left Greece when he told her to raise her kids there...
Being a woman in Greece at that time seems really really harsh.

Received today - thanks Bilbi. I will journal again as soon as I have read and contacted the next person.

Sorry, I just haven't been able to find the time to read this one so the best thing is now to keep it moving. I have pm'ed the next person and will journal again as soon as it is on its way. Sorry again......

Posted to ETMadrid today

I've just received it. A shame you decided not to read it Midlifecrisis... I wouldn't have minded you holding onto it for longer.

Anyway, thank you for sending it. I'm looking forward to reading it. It won't take me long to start it, but may take me a little while to finish it as it does look dense. I'll be letting you know how I get on!

11/11 I started this a couple of days ago and am enjoying it. Reading about the terrain helps me understand why another book sent more than 2 months ago to Yannina by surface mail still hasn't arrived! It is 60 years almost exactly since the death of Eleni, and this being 11th November, a day when we remember those who lost their lives in the Wars, an appropriate read for the season.

What a heart wrenching account of what the author and his family went through during the Second World War and the Civil War that tore Greece apart, and in particular the remote mountain village where they lived. I could not put the book down during the last 200 pages, and as I don't race when I'm reading, it was fairly all-consuming! This is a truely admirable reconstruction of their life that goes beyond the point when Nicola had to leave his mother, aged 8, in the hopes that she can flee later with her remaining daughter the horrors that they were having to endure. He does what is incredibly difficult to do, and that is to uncover the truth of a very complex and emotive recent past, and he does it early enough for people to be able to recount their own memories and experiences, before those memories die with them.

Initially I loved reading about life in the village as it explained to me quite how deep-rooted were the traditions, and especially the divisions between men and women. In the early eighties when I first went to Greece, I was struck by how I didn't see a woman outside anywhere, during the whole 10 days I was there. It also explained to me why the Greek friends living in my flat in Paris left a smokey mark on the frame above the front door (a cross at Easter). And what ensued has given me an insight into a part of European history of which I was utterly ignorant. The Mourgana area was one that I hoped I might be able to drive through if we ferried and drove to a wedding in Greece, a while ago, but the convenience of flying prevailed. I'm glad I didn't go without first reading this book, and now hope to get there one day!

I strongly recommend this book to anyone with the slightest interest or connection with this area. A little research shows me that the author's daughter, who bears the name of her grandmother has also written a book. And I found this quite interesting article about Lia as it is today: http://www.helleniccomserve.com/lia.html

27/04/09 I bought a new copy of this today to give it as a present to a friend!

CONTROLLED RELEASE NOTES:

Posted from the Old Kent Road to Scotland.

I see the book's also been made into a film - I hope to track it down sometime.

Apologies, I am a very bad Bookcrosser and forgot to journal this book when I received it. Hopefully I'll get stuck into this book during the festive period.

I just received this today. I have quite a few rings ahead of it, but should get to it soon.

I loved this book. I can't believe I had no idea about the conflicts and what this family went through. I am so glad that I was able to read this and learn from their lives.

wow..
my first ever book ring has succeeded :)

Thanks Talya.