4.5 Stars! What a beautiful but heartbreaking story. Dimitra was a wonderful character and showed character development through the book. Many of the characters felt so real and also flawed in the ways people are and should be in books. A lot of history is covered and we follow Dimitra through heartbreak after heartbreak. For a little bit I was thinking wow can one character really go through so much? But the way the author connects her story and shows her life and the beauty that can come from life I really enjoyed it. It also opened me up to the history of Greece briefly during WW2, and also the mail order brides from Greece. Highly Recommend!

Overall 4.5 STARS. This review is for the audiobook version. Thank you to Netgalley for the advanced audiobook.
This story follows 3 women, with varying timelines; a mother's POV, and that of her daughter. There is another woman whose life is intertwined with that of the daughter. A story that spans Greece to America.
The narrator provided excellent narration, and I enjoyed hearing the book even more spoken in the correct dialect.
This is the story of 3 women, each navigating life in Greece and/or America, often in the face of poverty, misogyny, or abuse. There is a bit of historical fiction, including Greek Picture Brides and how Greeks were subject to racism and terror by the KKK in America.
I enjoyed the storyline involving our FMC in America, her drive to succeed, her never-lowering standards when it comes to love and her friendship with black characters. The storyline of the Greek and Black Americans facing the same racism added an element of history that is not often written about.
The story starts a little slow in the beginning, but it picks up in the middle and at that point, it is a well-paced story.

This book is a beautifully written story about a young girl growing up, figuring out who she is and finding herself. It is a book with alternating timelines and I absolutely loved how everything came together and at the same time was heartbroken by it.

Set mainly in the Greek village of Cefalonia and the Island of Corfu, we follow Demitra, who grew up without her mother always missing that maternal role. Her father is very distant and Demitra is struggling with the strict cultural views of the role of women in the 1950s and her own dream of becoming an artist.

I was fully invested in Demitra's story from the very beginning. The author has a way of pulling you in, feeling for the characters and describes the greek culture in a way that you can envision it perfectly. The narrator of the audiobook also did a fantastic job and made me just want to continue listening.

The book shed's light on a part of history that unless you are from Greece or of greek heritage you might have never heard about. So I would recommend the book to everyone who loves historical fiction and wants to read about a timeperiod and historic events that isn't often a topic or theme in books (at least for me I hadn't before heard of books focusing on this history).

Three women during different time periods whose stories intertwine. During a time of a lack of female rights and social status. These woman face the not so pleasant aspects to this time frame. A truthful powerful read with strong bonds of friendship.

Demitra is a young passionate artist who dreams of Greek goddesses. When she becomes of age, her father chooses her future husband. Being a strong female not happy with the man choosen for her, Demitra refuses.

Elena is only destined to one career path, the one she was born into "woman of the night." She is treated by men just that. Being closed off to others she finds herself warming up to a few new girl friends. Their struggles and trauma connect them more ways than one.

Maria is the first story to take place out of the three. She is sold for a little bit of money to feed her family back home and shipped off on a long journey as a photo bride. Forced to marry a man she knows nothing about. On the journey she befriends other photo brides. They eagerly await their futures. Some leaving troubled pasts others terrified of what's to come.

Daughter of Ruins (audiobook) by Yvette Manessis Corporon
Brave women of history have had to exert great courage to change the course of their existence, many had no voice until someone gave them one by telling their stories.

This story tells the tale of 3 women, a motherless daughter, an Italian prostitute, and a mail order “picture bride” from Greece.
Demitra was born in America and was taken back to Greece when her mother died. She spent her childhood buried in mythology looking for her mother in the stories of goddesses. As a young woman she refuses an arranged marriage and instead has an affair with a forbidden man who ignites her passion for art. In her art, she brings new Greek goddesses to life.
Elena was raised around Italian brothels and failed to escape becoming a victim to that fate. When Italy occupied Cephalonia, Greece, she was sent to entertain soldiers. Her life changed when the .Germans arrived in 1943.
Maria was from a poor Greek village, where her father struggled to feed the family. He sent her to America to marry a stranger as a”picture bride”. At 18, she was terrified of the life she was forced into and mourned the one she left behind.

This story is steeped in culture and history with a compelling tale of resilience and survival. Our fates are often shaped by the struggles we endure. I enjoyed reading about these extraordinary women who had no voice until someone put pen to paper and gave them one,

This was an outstanding book! I was captivated with the stories of the three women.
The narrator did a phenobarbital of telling their story from the pages of this wonderful book! This was a slow burn initially, I honestly had a little bit of a struggle connecting with the story and characters in the beginning. Once I got a feel for their interconnections and the story line, I was completely captivated and I wanted to listen until the end!
Thank you to NetGalley and Harper Collins Focus for the opportunity to view and ARC of this book!

3.5 rounded up to 4.

Daughter of Ruins has an intriguing storyline! Three women beginning life at a disadvantage and bravely struggling to accept or hopefully reach beyond their situations.

I don’t know much about Greek Gods/Goddesses so it was eye opening to me. I found it interesting that both the belief in Greek mythology and the Greek Orthodox Church could blend together so easily.

Reading this book reminded me of how blessed I am to live when I do and not in the 20’s, 30’s and 40’s when these women did. They had no rights and were treated as possessions. Their suffering was mainly due to being women. I don’t want to give away any spoilers so I’ll just say that wealth and class only had a bit to do with their misfortunes.

I liked Demitra’s a character the most. I was invested in her story and was eager to find out what her future would bring.

There were only two things that kept me from giving it 5 stars. One was that each character was super emotional. I found myself longing for their dialogue to be over. Some of this could be due to the audio narrator I was listening to. She was highly emotional and I felt she overdid the voices. I think I would have enjoyed it more if I would have read it instead of listening.

I also found some of the plot unbelievable, to me, and wanted to roll my eyes when I saw things coming that the characters should have but didn’t.

Overall, I liked the story. I found myself looking up the places and landmarks that were found in the story. There was plenty of rich history involved and now I want to learn more!

Many thanks to Yvette Manessis Corporon and HarperCollins focus/Harper Muse for the ARC vía NetGalley!!!

The Daughter of Ruins is a historical fiction novel that spans several decades in the 20th century mainly based in Greece. This story does jump around a lot but it still makes sense when normally this does nothing for a book but cause chaos.

This novel follows 3 woman whose lives are intertwined. Demetria, a motherless daughter. Elena, an Italian prostitute, and Maria, a mail-order bride. These women are brave and try to change their fates.

Demetria, who has an artist's spirit in a time and place that finds such things impractical. This talent ended up paying dividends in the end, by finding her the information she had been looking for, all of her life.

From start to finish you will find yourself happy, sad, angry, hopeful, but mostly you will find yourself believing in them as well as women as a whole. Because if they can endure and go against the grain during that time period, then we can now.

Daughter of Ruins
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
This book was sooooo GOOD! It is Heartbreaking & will pull at your heart strings. Take a ride to cheer on woman trying to survive & make a better life. They continue on under all obstacles put in their way. A powerful story to continue on no matter what tries to stop you!!! To push forward beyond all the grieve, secrets, & hardships. A must read story!
Thank you NetGalley!

Overall, I enjoyed this slice of life story about a Greek girl growing up and facing the changing times/events in the middle of 20th century. While there are several POVs in this book I felt the description was a bit misleading. The vast majority of the book (what feels like 80-85%) is about Demitra. There are a few chapters from Elena and Maria’s POV, but they were much shorter and rare. To be honest since these chapters were smaller (and randomly throughout the text) I don’t think they end up making as big of an impact on the story as intended.

For me I always felt like something was missing during this story. It didn’t help that the pacing was kind of all over the place. I enjoyed the women around Demitra the most and how they supported her during the good times and the bad. They really brought home the idea of “women make the magic”.

I loved the narrator for the audiobook. She did a great job with the voices and telling the story.

Daughter of Ruins is an epic work of Greek historical fiction centered around Demitra and two other women, whose lives and fates are interconnected in a variety of ways, through much of the past century. It’s a moving and engaging story that will stay with you long after you finish.

Alex Sarrigeorgiou did an excellent job narrating the audiobook.

Thank you Yvette Manessis Corporon, Harper Muse, and NetGalley for providing this ARC for review consideration. All opinions expressed are my own.

Daughter of Ruins

° Dual Timelines
° Multiple POV
° Greek History & Mythology

This historical fiction novel follows the lives of three resilient women—a motherless daughter, an Italian prostitute, and a mail-order bride—over several decades in Greece and America.

The story beautifully captures their courage, struggles and determination to rise above pain, blending inspiration with heartbreak. It explores powerful themes of parental love, friendship, loss and advocacy for others’ rights.  While listening to the audiobook on my way to work, I found myself wanting to pull over as I felt deeply connected to the main character's emotions.

The narrative is rich with Greek history, culture and mythology, vividly describing the beauty of Cephalonia and Corfu, making me long to visit Greece one day. The intertwining of the goddesses in Greek mythology, with the women’s stories is skillfully done.

I initially listened to the audiobook, but later switched to the ebook and Alex Sarrigeorgiou’s narration truly brought each character to life.

TW: Physical Abuse, Infidelity, Racism, Illegal Adoption, Human Trafficking

Favorite Quotes:
ᥫ᭡ "Let men think they hold all the power because we know the truth.  We are the ones who give life and bring life.  There is nothing more powerful or important."
"Men think they hold the power, but we are the power, Demitra.  And we bring the magic and the love."

ᥫ᭡  "I know what it is to have a passion in your heart but to be told repeatedly to tamp it down.  I know what it is to want to soar when others are holding you down.  I see this in you."

ᥫ᭡ ".. Show me someone who isn't damaged or haunted in some way.  The only difference is what we do with that pain.  Do we drown in it, allowing it to pull us down further until we disappear into it?  Or do we use that pain, that brokenness to inspire us?" 

ᥫ᭡ "Don't shy away from what haunts you.   Embrace it. Just look around you, look at the magnificence of this place, look at what can happen when you face your pain, the very thing that broke your heart, instead of pretending it never existed."

ᥫ᭡  "..You spent your childhood searching for the magic in the myths, Demitra, when you were the magic all along.  Be the magic.  Create magic and live the life of an artist.."

ᥫ᭡ "She had, for a few brief moments, experienced a pure and perfect love.   And she was forever changed by it, understanding that it would never come again, because she was not who she was before."

ᥫ᭡ "..she knew that despite the pain she felt, it had been worth it.  It had all been worth it.  Because however brief it was, their love was true.  And she knew that together, they had created magic, and the world was a more beautiful place because of their love."

ᥫ᭡  "The tangle of tiny blue flowers woven into Aphrodite's hair would always be a testament of their bond and proof that sometimes only after experiencing pain, longing, and sorrow, can love exist in its truest and most beautiful form."

Thank you NetGalley, the publisher Harper Muse and Harper Muse Audiobooks and the author Yvette Manessis Corporon for the complimentary copy of this book.  Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.

Daughter of Ruins swept me into a rich, interwoven story of three remarkable women, each navigating their own challenges with courage and heart. The audiobook brought their voices to life, pulling me deeply into their world. Yvette Manessis Corporon’s storytelling is both tender and fierce, holding my attention from beginning to end. This novel will stay with me, no question, and I’d recommend it to anyone looking for a story that resonates with resilience and connection. This one’s earned a place among my favorites.

This was a well written, researched and emotional book. I loved the 3 stories and how they all were connected. The bonds between women, especially those that are relatives. And the overall uplifting feel to this book, despite it being an emotionally challenging read. The story spans hundreds of years, from Greece to New York City. It is rich with detail, history and family. Over the many years and stories followed, family secrets unraveled and one woman's life was changed forever. I enjoyed this audiobook, I was engaged from the beginning. I found that all the stories were interesting and that it was easy to follow. However, I had very high expectations for this book and I did not feel they were hit. I wanted to continue listening and was invested in discovering the end. So, it is possible that I set my expectations way too high for this one or that it is a better read than audio.

Thank you Netgalley for my advanced reader copy.

This is an unputdownable women's fiction. I received the audiobook from Netgalley. The narration is excellent and the accents are in point. The plot was captivating, but I felt that the storytelling was a bit slow. However, this is a must read for those who love reading about the lives of ordinary people, women and children during the time of wars.

I was very pleasantly surprised at this book. I read a lot of historical fiction but I don't think I have read one with Greek background.

I am truly amazed how greatly structured this book with lots of great analogies to Greek mythology (which I love). Besides, all sorts of emotions were evoked by the novel: hope, passion, grief and sorrow, love, pain, betrayal, and so much more. A perfectly built characters (both positive and negative), wonderful descriptions of the environment, great story with turns and twists. My only critique is that the novel started out a bit slow, but fortunately things picked up afterwards so much so that it became a real pageturner.

I listened to the audiobook version, which was very good.

The audiobook of Daughter of Ruins by Yvette Manessis Corporon was a courtesy of NetGalley and the publisher for an honest review. Thanks so much to all for this opportunity.

Unfortunately this audiobook was really tough to follow. I had a hard time keeping up, especially since chapters are not labeled in the audio file. The narrator is great, but as a listener, we need more help to keep up.

Daughter of Ruins (audiobook) by Yvette Manessis Corporon
Brave women of history have had to exert great courage to change the course of their existence, many had no voice until someone gave them one by telling their stories.

This story tells the tale of 3 women, a motherless daughter, an Italian prostitute, and a mail order “picture bride” from Greece.
Demitra was born in America and was taken back to Greece when her mother died. She spent her childhood buried in mythology looking for her mother in the stories of goddesses. As a young woman she refuses an arranged marriage and instead has an affair with a forbidden man who ignites her passion for art. In her art, she brings new Greek goddesses to life.
Elena was raised around Italian brothels and failed to escape becoming a victim to that fate. When Italy occupied Cephalonia, Greece, she was sent to entertain soldiers. Her life changed when the .Germans arrived in 1943.
Maria was from a poor Greek village, where her father struggled to feed the family. He sent her to America to marry a stranger as a”picture bride”. At 18, she was terrified of the life she was forced into and mourned the one she left behind.

This story is steeped in culture and history with a compelling tale of resilience and survival. Our fates are often shaped by the struggles we endure. I enjoyed reading about these extraordinary women who had no voice until someone put pen to paper and gave them one,

This was an outstanding book! I was captivated with the stories of the three women.
The narrator did a phenomenal job of telling their story from the pages of this wonderful book! This was a slow burn initially, I honestly had a little bit of a struggle connecting with the story and characters in the beginning. Once I got a feel for their interconnections and the story line, I was completely captivated and I wanted to listen until the end!
Thank you to NetGalley and Harper Collins focus for the opportunity to review and ARC of this book!
4/5⭐️

This book was beautifully read and one I enjoyed coning back to. I liked the different timelines and how this story was intertwined. The Italian setting was also an added bonus. I didn't know much about mythology but I liked how it was weaved into the story with the beliefs and life of the women as well.

This compelling dual-time novel intricately weaves the stories of three strong Greek women: Demitra, an orphaned daughter raised by her Baba; Elena, a beautiful Italian prostitute navigating wartime challenges; and Maria, a poor mountain girl sent to America as a mail-order bride in search of a better life.

Set against the backdrop of Greek mythology, the narrative unfolds in both the 1930s and 1943, exploring themes of love, loss, and resilience. Demitra grapples with her mother’s death and her father’s absence, while Elena faces the harsh realities of war, and Maria seeks her place in a foreign land.

The author sensitively portrays each woman’s struggles, highlighting their courage and determination to discover their true selves amidst societal expectations. With a rich cast of supporting characters and a deep appreciation for Greece's history and myths, this emotional read resonates deeply. A beautifully crafted story that deserves a five-star rating!

Thank you so much to NetGalley and Harper Collins | Harper Muse for the opportunity to listen to this advanced audio copy in exchange for my honest opinions!

Daughter of Ruins
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Less than 8% in and I’m crying at Stella’s speech about being a step mother to Demitra. As a step daughter myself, I think that connection is more than I could ever ask for and one I know so well.

This book is absolutely amazing! It has really grabbed my attention. I will say that the shifts in point of view can be a bit tricky to keep up with. The heavy themes surrounding the treatment of sex workers, trafficking, and slavery are clear but handled with such sensitivity. I can't put it down! Demitra’s speech to her father about her mother hit me hard—I’m in tears at work.
It may be the narrator or maybe recent historical fiction I have read but there were often parts where I forgot this takes place in Greece and not Mexico or Spain. This story is so beautifully done and so beautifully sad. I immediately had to send a physical copy of this book to one of my friends.

“Men think that they hold the power but, we ARE the power, Demitra, and we bring the magic and the love.”