Combining reality and mythology, this Greek novel tells the story of three generations of a family, from the old grandmother who lost her home in Turkey in 1922, to her faithful daughter who inhabits her own dreamworld, to the granddaughter, a product of modern-day Athens.
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The first voice is from a tree: "In the old days, the maidens from the distant North would come and we would talk together. Then came the priestesses, clad in white, with their copper gongs, and garlands in their hair. In their white robes, they would lie down and wait and listen for the whispering of my leaves." The next voice is that of Roula, who lives in Athens: "My mother always used to say that you can tell a bad day from the way it starts. Well, she wasn't wrong." Out in the Greek countryside where Roula's relatives live, other voices speak - those of Eleni and her mother, who live near the tree. Through the course of the book, the voices come together to tell the story of suffering of the women and men of Greece. Eleni's mother loved her husband, the man who stroked her belly and painted pictures all over her body, but the Turks killed him and his severed head landed in the water near her boat. Eleni is one of eight children her mother later conceived with him , the man who raped her, knowing she had no place else to go. A death brings the family together and, following tradition, Eleni becomes the spiritual medium for seven generations of male family members. The stories of dead men combine with the voices of living women to relate a history of Greece dating back to the 1820s. -- For great reviews of books for girls, check out Let's Hear It for the Girls: 375 Great Books for Readers 2-14. -- From 500 Great Books by Women; review by Erica Bauermeister
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3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
EXCELLENT,
This review is from: Seventh Garment (Paperback)
Eugenia Fakinou is extremely gifted. In her "The 7th garment" but also in all her other books she has captured things that are impossible to describe and narrate. Having read both the Greek and the English versions, i have to say that they create a totally different impression, and perhaps the translation should be revisited, although i do not know if the English text creates the same 'images' in the minds of English-speaking readers as the Greek text creates in the minds of the Greeks. The strongest idea of the book is the relationship with the seeds from the homeland, that were carried in tight pockets of the Seventh Garment. It does describe the expatriated people's "life" itself. It should be definitely reprinted.Maria-Stella Aloupie Biologist
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