"By far the greatest novel Greece has produced" -San Francisco Chronicle"Taktsis has let individual lives speak deliberately for themselves and unwittingly for their period with unforced authority" -The Observer"Read this book and you will know more about Greece than you could learn from a dozen histories" -Sunday Times"Taktsis' book is a celebration of the Greek people and the Greek women in particular, and it roars with life" -Library Journal"an utterly objective view of Greek life. Taktsis has wonderfully met his intention to counteract 'the pseudo poeticalness and the pseudo heroics of Greek prose in the past 100 years or so.' ...extremely well translated." -Antioch Review