Efronia: An Armenian Love Story (Women's Life Writings from Around the World) [Paperback]

Stina Katchadourian (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: September 15, 1994 | ISBN-10: 1555531806 | ISBN-13: 978-1555531805

Efronia Katchadourian was born in 1894 to a Christian Armenian family living in the Ottoman Empire. In her late eighties, she finally wrote the long-secret story of her ill-fated youthful love for a Persian Moslem during the era of the Armenian genocide. Her daughter-in-law Stina introduces the memoir and interweaves an affectionate narrative that brings together the historical, biographical, and cultural elements of her indomitable mother-in-law's tumultuous world.

--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Editorial Reviews

From Library Journal

The story of Efronia Katchadourian, written by her scholar daughter-in-law and based upon her son's translation of her autobiography, rewards the reader on several levels. As a record of an Armenian woman's formative years and survival in Ottoman Turkey during the 1915 massacres, it documents the historical crisis of a people. As an account of Efronia's lifelong devotion to a Muslim youth whom she loved and lost during World War I, it stands as a moving story, testifying to the nature of women's lives and to both the strengths and limits of culture and society in that time. Finally, the memoir is absorbing for the force of character that emerges as we read about a woman whose life spanned much of this century and several nations. Recommended for women's literature and regional collections.
- Rena Fowler, Humboldt State Univ., Arcata, Cal.
Copyright 1993 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Kirkus Reviews

A timely reminder of another not-so-distant ethnic cleansing, one that devastated the life of Efronia Katchadourian, subject of this affectionate memoir by her daughter-in-law. A Christian Armenian living in the dying days of Ottoman Turkey, Efronia survived the persecution and genocide brought on by the Turks, then married, and moved to Beirut only to flee that city in the 1970's and join her son and his family in California. There, she began her memoirs, which the author--a journalist and translator--has freely drawn upon. Efronia's entire growing-up was shadowed by the persecution of the Turks, who--unable to govern their decaying empire--turned on the Armenians, with whom they'd previously coexisted peacefully. Efronia's father was killed by a Turkish Moslem when she was a baby; and Efronia herself narrowly escaped the WW I deportation into the Syrian desert, during which thousands perished. The end of the war meant further dangers as the defeated Turks massacred the remaining Armenians in Smyrna and in the interior. But it's Efronia's star-crossed love affair with Ramzi, a young man of great promise, that adds an extra twist of pathos to her story. Because Ramzi was a Persian and a Moslem, Efronia's family forbade her to marry him, even though his family warmly endorsed the match. Efronia later married a fellow Armenian, but, even in her 90s, she'd not forgotten her first and only love. A bittersweet story of a woman and her enormously gifted people, whose tragic history continues today. (Illustrations) -- Copyright ©1993, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Product Details

• Paperback: 160 pages
• Publisher: Northeastern (September 15, 1994)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1555531806
• ISBN-13: 978-1555531805
• Product Dimensions: 8.9 x 5.4 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 12.8 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #4,506,019 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

10 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars An Armenian life in Ottoman surroundings, March 6, 1999

By 

"sharef" - See all my reviews

This review is from: Efronia: An Armenian Love Story (Women's Life Writings from Around the World) (Hardcover)

"Efronia" provides an extraordinary and very sentimental account of the unwarranted suffering of the Armenian people through political oppression and religious discrimination, which was not averted, although it was permanently visible to the international community. The specific case of Efronia clearly illustrates the way this segregation could affect the individual's life and her state of mind. An excellent book for anyone who wants a real person's perspective on a subject generally known only from the dry and fact-based point of view of history books and wishes to become acquainted with the historical and cultural background of the Armenian people.

6 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Wonderful!, April 3, 1998

By A Customer

This review is from: Efronia: An Armenian Love Story (Women's Life Writings from Around the World) (Paperback)

This is one of the most heart-wrenching and heart-warming books that I have ever read. I could not put it down.