Demitra Dimitropoulos was born in America but travelled back to her people’s home on the island of Cephalonia prior to World War II. Through the child’s eyes, we see Greece as she lives quietly with her widowed father. She is one of the three women who are each a DAUGHTER OF RUINS.
The Italian soldiers stationed in Greece are entertained by the likes of Elena, one of the Italian women imported to keep the troops amused. But when the Germans take over the poor island, life goes badly wrong for everyone. Elena stays on after the war, friends with young Demitra but scorned by all others.
We also meet Demitra’s mother, Maria, growing up impoverished and with a marriage arranged for her as a teen. She is sent to America as a ‘picture bride’ to marry a total stranger in 1921, as the Greek men in New York want brides from their community. Women are expected to work in the home and have no other life. The young women are terrified and some suffer the worst fate – left on the dock, so they are sent back to Greece, where their families no longer accept them. This is an interesting time as immigration laws have recently changed, and I learnt about the uneasy mix of people in the fast-developing city.
Another fascinating situation in Cephalonia is that the blessed snakes of Panagia visit the monastery on a feast day each year, and when they fail to arrive, disaster is foretold. One such time is the onset of the war. Another is a catastrophic earthquake, in which thousands of islanders die, trapped by collapsing buildings.
The lively times in between sparkle with Ionian sunshine and salt air. Corfu, another island, is home to Demetria for a while, where she works in a relative’s restaurant and mingles with tourists. The food is so good I can taste it, and the wine is rich and soft as it accompanies happy meetings. Here Demetria practises her gift of painting in earnest, something she has been denied by her stern father. The goddesses of Greece are invoked, reminding us that women have always had it hard, and were required to be many aspects in one.
DAUGHTER OF RUINS Demetria may be, but the Greek ruins are spectacular, legend-filled, and close to alive. Yvette Manessis Corporon, author of Where The Cypress Whispers, explores her heritage and the lives of ordinary women, drawing on their strength, love, and character. This is a vibrant story which – of course – makes me want to visit the Greek islands.
A motherless daughter. An Italian prostitute. A mail-order bride. Are these women brave enough to change their fates?
Demitra's mother died in America in the 1930s when Demitra was three years old. Her father took her home to the Greek island of Cephalonia, where she endures a lonely childhood and dreams her dead mother watches over her, like the goddesses she reads about in her mythology books. When Demitra comes of age, she refuses to marry the man chosen for her. Instead, she defiantly begins an affair with a forbidden man who ignites her passion for painting the goddesses she once imagined protected her.
Elena is a beautiful Italian woman who dreamed of a life away from the brothels where she was raised. But opportunities are not meant for daughters of prostitutes and Elena has no choice but to become one herself. When Italy occupies Cephalonia, Elena finds work entertaining the soldiers. Her life on the island is happy and carefree--until the Germans arrive in 1943.
Maria lives in a poor mountain village in 1921 with a loving mother and sister. When her father grows desperate to feed his family, he sends her to America as a picture bride to marry a stranger. Only eighteen years old, Maria is terrified of the journey ahead.
Daughter of Ruins is an all-encompassing tale steeped in the rich history, culture, and myths of Greece. It is a deeply moving story that follows three women as they struggle to control their destinies, fighting to become the women they were meant to be.
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