Leaving behind a sparkling social life and a successful journalism career, Eleni Gage moved from New York City to the remote Greek village of Lia. Lia is the same village where her father was born and her grandmother murdered, and which her father, Nicholas Gage, made famous twenty years ago with his international bestseller Eleni. Her four aunts (the diminutive but formidable thitsas) warned Eleni that she'd get killed by Albanians and eaten by wolves if she moved to Lia, invoking the curse her grandmother placed on any of her descendants who returned to Greece. But Eleni was determined to rebuild the ruins of her grandparents' house and to come to terms with her family's tragic history. Along the way, she learned to dodge bad omens and to battle the scorpions on her pillow and the shadows in her heart. She also came to understand that Greece and its memories were not only dark and death-filled, and that memories of the dead can bring new life to the present. Part travel memoir and part family saga, North of Ithaka is, above all, a journey home.

North of Ithaka: A Journey Home Through a Family's Extraordinary Past

Biographies & Memoirs

Gage, Eleni N.

Memoirs

St.Martin's Press

In North of Ithaka, Eleni Gage returns to the remote Greek village of Lia, where her father was born and her grandmother murdered, to rebuild the ruins of her namesake's home and come to terms with her family's tragic history. In doing so, she leaves behind a sparkling social life and successful career to continue the tale of a family and a place which her father, Nicholas Gage, made famous over twenty years ago with his international bestseller, Eleni. Along the way she survives humorous misadventures, absorbs fascinating folklore, and comes to understand that memories of the dead can bring new life to the present. Part travel memoir and part family saga, North of Ithaka is, above all, a journey home.

North of Ithaka: A Granddaughter Returns to Greece and Discovers Her Roots

Community & Culture

St. Martin's: Griffin

“A Jane Austen-ish plot gets a delicious Indian accent in this effervescent novel by former PEOPLE editor Gage . . . in this exotic, mysterious setting, cultures collide, love grows more complicated and Maya finally discovers just whom – and where – she is really meant to be.” --People, **** Maya is an accomplished psychiatry resident with a supportive boyfriend, loving family, and bustling New York social life. When her grandmother dies in India, a family squabble over property ignites a curse that drifts across continents and threatens Maya's life. Or so her father says-- Maya (being a modern woman, an American, and a doctor) doesn't believe in curses, Brahman, or otherwise. But then a series of calamities befalls her family, her career and relationship both falter, and Maya starts to worry. She hopes a trip back to India with her best friend, Heidi, will enable her to remove the curse, save her family, and put her own life back in order. Thus begins a journey into Maya's parallel worlds-- New York and an India filled with loving and annoying relatives, vivid colors, and superstitious customs she doesn't, and does, believe in. But her time in India isn't just a visit "home" or a chance to explore the strengthening and suffocating bonds of family, it's also the beginning of a cathartic quest toward forging one identity out of two cultues as Maya learns unexpected lessons about life and love.

Other Waters: A Novel

Literature & Fiction

United States

Every engaged couple wants two things: a meaningful wedding and a lifetime of happiness. This great gift book is a cross-cultural collection of marriage folklore that will help you achieve both. Create your own lucky traditions with nods to each other’s heritage, customs from places you’ve visited together, and auspicious rituals that just feel special. Whether you are just engaged or you’re days away from tying the knot, you’ll gain insight every step of the way. With this book as your guide, you can make your own luck in love.

Lucky in Love: Traditions, Customs, and Rituals to Personalize Your Wedding

Reference

Clarkson/Potter

When Maria Vazquez returns to Nicaragua for her beloved grandfather's funeral, she brings with her a mysterious package from her grandmother's past-and a secret of her own. And she also carries the burden of her tense relationship with her mother Ninexin, once a storied revolutionary, now a tireless government employee. Between Maria and Ninexin lies a chasm created by the death of Maria's father, who was killed during the revolution when Maria was an infant, leaving her to be raised by her grandmother Isabela as Ninexin worked to build the new Nicaragua. As Ninexin tries to reach her daughter, and Maria wrestles with her expectations for her romance with an older man, Isabela, the mourning widow, is lost in memories of attending boarding school in 1950's New Orleans, where she loved and lost almost sixty years ago. When the three women come together to bid farewell to the man who anchored their family, they are forced to confront their complicated, passionate relationships with each other and with their country-and to reveal the secrets that each of them have worked to conceal. Lushly evocative of Nicaragua, its tumultuous history, and vibrant present, Eleni N. Gage's The Ladies of Managua brings you into the lives of three strong and magnetic women, as they uncover the ramifications of the choices they made in their pasts and begin to understand the ways in which love can shape their futures.

The Ladies of Managua: A Novel

When Maria returns to Nicaragua for her beloved grandfather's funeral, she brings with her a mysterious package from her grandmother's past. She also carries the burden of her tense relationship with her mother, Ninexin, once a storied revolutionary, now a dedicated official in the Sandinista government. Between Maria and Ninexin lies a chasm created by the death of Maria's father, which left Maria to be raised by her grandmother Isabela while Ninexin worked to build the new Nicaragua. As Ninexin tries to reach her daughter and Maria wrestles with her turbulent relationship with an older man, Isabela becomes lost in the memories of boarding school in 1950's New Orleans, where she loved and lost almost sixty years ago. When the three women come together to bid farewell to the man who had anchored their family, they are forced to confront their complicated relationships - with one another and with their country - and to reveal the secrets that each of them has tried so hard to conceal. 
 Lushly evocative of Nicaragua, with its tumultuous history and its vibrant present, Eleni N. Gage 's The Ladies of Managua brings you into the lives of three strong and magnetic women as they face their past choices and discover how love can shape their futures.

See the best price to sell, buy, or rent books by Gage, Eleni N.. BookScouter helps to compare book prices from 25+ online bookstores and 30+ buyback vendors with a single search.

Books by Gage, Eleni N.

See the best price to sell, buy, or rent books by Gage, Eleni N.. BookScouter helps to compare book prices from 25+ online bookstores and 30+ buyback vendors with a single search.

North of Ithaka: A Journey Home Through a Family's Extraordinary Past

North of Ithaka: A Granddaughter Returns to Greece and Discovers Her Roots

Other Waters: A Novel

Lucky in Love: Traditions, Customs, and Rituals to Personalize Your Wedding

The Ladies of Managua: A Novel

The Ladies of Managua: A Novel