This is the first book I have read by this author and I was pleasantly surprised by the story. It was quite captivating and the well=developed characters made it seem as if I was part of the story.

Synopsis:
After years spent in Germany struggling to come to terms with a dispirited and abusive past, Fenia Karapanos has returned to her roots in Greece. Her estranged grandfather has bequeathed her his villa in Athens, a gesture she assumes is reparation for having disowned her late mother. After taking in a grateful Syrian refugee to help her restore the property—and her life—Fenia discovers a collection of love letters hidden under the floorboards, reaching back nearly a century. In each one, Fenia unfolds another piece of her broken family history.

But it’s Fenia’s solicitous cousin, Melpo, who offers more to the story than Fenia can imagine. Melpo shares everything she knows—about Fenia’s grandmother and mother, their elusive and heartbreaking searches for happiness, and two families linked across decades by betrayal, secrets, abandonment, and forbidden love. It upends everything Fenia believed was true about her family. But it could also draw her closer to finding self-fulfillment—and a place to call home.

What a beautiful story that describes healing and forgiveness. The author does a good job of developing the characters as well as providing historical details of the Greek-Turkish conflict. You will enjoy the journey as you travel with Chrysafenia as she discover a family she has never known.

Thank you to NetGalley and Amazon Crossing for my advanced review copy. All opinions and thoughts are my own.

To be honest I am not 100% sure how I felt about this book.
I did enjoy the historic aspect of it covering 3 generations of women.
Yes it was intriguing enough to keep reading but not what I would call a compelling story.

The story told is a familiar one to Greeks/Turks but no less tragic or interesting for that. However, I really disliked the structure of the novel. It is far too convenient to have the main character be like, oh I don't know anything about my parents and then have the story told by a conveniently chatty aunt that just shows up. So, good story, terrible presentation from the present.

I just couldn’t get into or follow this book. I tried to stay with it but it was just a lot of mundane details. It lacked personality in characters. It just seemed drawn out.

Destiny caresses the few, but molests the many. Turkish Proverb

Greek and Turkish histories go back a long way, and I profess to knowing little about them, however it's clear that whichever people you belong to there is likely to be a bias towards their stories, and it as likely that these populations are more mixed than they would like to believe, and that there have been generations of cheerful intermingling, despite the differences that kept their identities separate.

However this is a story of Greek families living in what was then known as Constantinople (later renamed as Istanbul, one of many name changes - The city was founded in 667 BC and named Byzantium by the Greeks ), and how the same twist of fate affected three generations of the same two families, where a young woman and a young man fall in love, only to have the union thwarted by their parents - in each generation it is for a different reason, beginning with them not being of the same wealth and social status, where marriage was more of a contract between families decided by the father's.

He had married her not, of course, because he loved her, but because that was what her father had decided...Nobody thought of asking Kleoniki if she wanted to marry the grim Anargyros, with his rough hands and even rougher personality. Besides it was thought to be a very good marriage, since the groom was prosperous and an orphan.
"A big thing, that, my dear!" the matchmaker informed the girl. "Neither a mother-in-law in your face nor a father-in-law to boss you round. Lady and mistress of your own house!"

And in case they thought about falling into the terrain of forbidden love, there were the sins of those who'd had to flee, "discussed with horror and scorn in hushed voices at evening gatherings and tea parties".
Even if some woman, deep down inside, understood the girl, she didn't dare say so. Many romantic souls sighed secretly, calculating what a great love the girl must have felt to run off with her beloved, overlooking the fact that he was a Turk.

However, just because the son's obey their father's and the families are estranged, doesn't stop whatever magnetism exists from bringing the next generation together.

The story and family history is revealed in the present day as a middle age woman Fenia, arrives from Germany to hear from a lawyer in Athens that she has inherited a house from a grandfather she never met. She decides to stay and do up the house and various knocks at the door lead her to meet relatives bearing both good wishes, hostility and the gaps in their shared history.

And The Gold Letter - a beautiful gift imagined and designed by the first generation but never created, finds its way into Fenia's hands and connects the stories together.

I was a little sceptical when I began reading due to the clear prejudices of the characters, whether it was Greeks against Turks or the attitude of the men towards women and certainly the women in all these generations suffer greatly, those in the present day perhaps most of all, however they were indicative of their time and sadly of the reality in some lands where borders change over the years and not everyone can flee, but they remember the violence and deaths of members of their families in the past, which continues to keep them separate for generations.

I enjoyed the novel, although it covers such a long period of time that there are many characters and connections to juggle and so not much time is spent with some. That said, it's clear that the author is a gifted storyteller invested in her characters, whom I enjoyed following and at times I felt almost like I watching this on film, it's an entertaining, episodic family drama of the old tradition, of couples trying to keep up family and cultural traditions.

Great read. The author wrote a story that was interesting and moved at a pace that kept me engaged. The characters were easy to invest in.

This was the first book that I've read featuring the refugee crisis in Europe and detailing the dvisions between Turk and Greek in Constantinople.
Chrysafenia Karapanos also known as Fenia inherits her late mother's childhood home from her grandfather who kicked her mother out of the house when she was 17. She knows nothing about her mother's family and in the renovating of the house she discovers letters - the oldest almost 90 years old, the others a bit more recent. Together with these letters and her mother's cousin she pieces together the history of a family she didn't know.
Her family's root lay in Constantinople as Greeks living amongst the Turks in a very turbulent time in their history. This is a riveting story spanning over four generations of women from one family who were linked with three generations of Kouyoumdzis men.
It covers a portion of History that was unknown to me but so vividly described that it felt as if I was right there amidst it all. What the Kouyoumdzis family and hundreds of others like them lived through humbled a person and those scenes have not left my thoughts.
A beautiful ending with a far bit left unsaid, but the reader can fill in the blanks for themselves.
It was not always easy to read especially the depiction of the violence of the attacks by the Turks on the Greeks on the streets of Constantinople, but it was a brilliant translation whose words carried all the power and poignancy that the story deserves.
Thank you to NetGalley and the publishers for allowing me the chance to read this book.

I sadly didn’t enjoy reading this book at all. Sadly as from the cover and description it had appealed to me.

This is a book about a woman who has been through some of the most suffering someone can endure finally receiving some good news about the family she has never known. She has inherited a family home (that needs some fixing) and a small fortune. When she is first buying groceries for her new home, she runs into a Syrian refugee and lets him stay with her. They fix up the old house. Over the past couple of days, Chrysafenia's aunts one by one visit her in her new home. Chrysafenia is curious about her family so - Melpo tells her about the past, starting with her great grandmother Smargda. The stories show 3 generations of women falling in love with men from the same family and how their lives continued after that. The story mixes in some true Greek historical events along with learning about Chrysafenia’s past. The ending was very beautiful and satisfying to an intense, nerve-wrecking story.

Brief synopsis from the book cover:
Fenia Kantartzi, a Greek living in Germany, inherits a small fortune from her grandfather, a man she never knew. While working on the property, Fenia comes upon old letters and begins to learn of an intergenerational story of unfulfilled loves of her mother and grandmother. Between the letters and the tale told to her by her cousin Melpo, Fenia puts together a story of generations and learns her true paternity.
But will the knowledge Fenia gains be enough to help her recover from the legacy of heartache and abuse she endured in her childhood? Bestselling author Lena Manta captivates again with her sweeping saga of individual lives caught in the rapids of history.
My rating:

Story: 4 out of 5 stars
Writing: 4 out of 5 stars
Character development: 4 out of 5 stars
Overall: 4 out of 5 stars

Review:

This a beautiful story about healing, forgiveness and overcoming tragedy. The characters are described vividly and nice good people. The book is captivating and full of intrigue as you follow Fena on her journey to uncover the truth about her family. It also gives you a bit an inside into the history behind the Greek – Turkish conflict, centering on Istanbul during the tumultuous years after the First World War until the mid 1950’s. The book is nicely written, I really enjoyed it and I was sad to finish it. I will keep my eyes open for more books by this writer.

I received an ARC through Netgalley at no cost to me.

This is a generational story of family and secrets. It is about love and loss. This is absolutly beautiful.

I would like to thank netgalley and the publisher for providing me with a copy free of charge. This is my honest and unbiased opinion of it.

I immediately fell in love with this book! Fenia finds old love letters that date back many generations in her family and decided she needs to know more. What she finds made me hold my breath ,on the edge of my seat and in tears at times! She finds herself and the most important things in life while she is searching. Some things are not always what they seem. Very powerful. Loved it! Thank you Net Galley and the publisher in exchange for my honest review. I will be looking up this author to read more of her amazing books!

This was a beautiful story of three generations. There are family secrets, betrayal, and forbidden love. The writing was so descriptive and flowed easily. I enjoyed the way the author deftly pieced this story through time.
Many thanks to Amazon Crossing and to NetGalley for providing me with a galley in exchange for my honest opinion.

I LOVE a good intergenerational family saga. This story, based in Greece and Turkey, is a heart breaking love story between two families. At first it felt more about the politics and the turbulent situation of the country during those years than the love story or the family's history. But the book eventually picked up and I couldn't put it down! The only confusing part was the same names of granddaughters and grandmothers but I am assuming its part of their culture.

The women of this book were strong characters, who were willing to take risks, stand up for what they wanted and I loved that. The storyline is from 1913 to 2016 and we see how the women of this family, from each generation overcome heartbreaks and find happiness in what life gives them. It's how women have learned to live because men aren't strong enough to stand up for what they want.

Thank you for the ARC Net Galley!

I read this book in one day!. I have read Lena Manda before, and this one is one of her best in my opinion. It really tugged on your heartstrings with the story line of romance mixed with history.

A beautifully written story of three generations of women involving betrayal, secrets, forbidden love and history repeating itself. Set in glorious Greece, this wonderful story teller reveals a story that helps the main character find love peace and a place to call her own--and leaving the reader with a most satisfying ending.
Thank you for allowing me the opportunity to read this title prior to publication--every word and page was loved and now has me seeking other titles by the same author!