Ekaterini, born in Greece at the beginning of the twentieth century, is a woman who knows her own mind. Against the wishes of her family, she marries an immigrant worker and follows him from the port of Thessaloniki to Belgrade. There, Ekaterini is not only forced to learn the country's 'odd' language and adapt to life in an alien culture, but soon becomes a young widow who must guide her two small daughters safely through the turmoil caused by the Second World War and the socialist post-war period. Refusing to cheer Stalin or to bend to the new political environment, the story of a remarkably stoic and courageous woman unfolds: a woman whose life spans the collapse of Yugoslavia, the last Balkan war, the Kosovo crisis and the bombing of Belgrade, and yet still dreams of one day returning to her beloved Greece. Ekaterini is the human story of an epoch. Though set in the Balkans, it is nevertheless a tale of universal human survival, chronicling the ordinary lives of women who live through history's most turbulent times.
While written in homage to the ancient story of Odysseus this remarkable novel sees the roles reversed, so that it is a modern Penelope who must travel and suffer in search of her homeland. With her distinctive brand of humour, Marija Knezevic cleverly parodies the traditional biography by demystifying the everyday events of life and allowing a female narrator to share her version of events. The story of Ekaterini is the story of one woman who lives through the twentieth century in a part of the world where a long life could bear witness to four major wars. Just as there is no such thing as a 'normal life', so we can understand that one individual story can be the story of a country, of an epoch. The heroine of 'Ekaterini' is born in the Balkans, and her story is one of human survival, and is therefore universal. This is history seen from the woman's point of view, the story of the ordinary lives of the women who live through the turbulent historical events of their time. With her own brand of humour, Knezevic wants to parody the traditional biography by demystifying the everyday events in one 'ordinary life' and let the female narrator tell her side of the story.

About the Author
Marija Kneevic is the author of over 7 books of poetry and fiction. She graduated from the Belgrade University with a degree in General Literature with Theory of Literature, then went on to do an MA degree in Comparative Literature at Michigan State University (East Lansing, Michigan, 1999.She has four years of experience in radio-journalism (Radio Belgrade, program in culture, Radio 202..) and is a regular columnist in Serbian major daily "Politika". Her work has been published in German and Polish. She recieved the Dura Jaksic Award, 2007, for her poetry collection "In tactum". Her story "Without Fear of Change" (from FABULA RASA) has been included into "Best European Fiction" edition for 2012 (Dalkey Archive Press, Illinois, USA).

Reviews
"Before us we have a poetic novel in which the scent of the Mediterranean mixes with the taste of inevitable transience. ... Between the scents of oranges' and lemons, mixed with the sea breeze, the individual biography is played out against the larger picture of war. It seems that the message the author wishes to tell us is that the most important war is the war with oneself; where the will to write one's own story becomes more important than historical imperatives." Eva Zonenberg - Poet and author of Hazard and The Moment of Delight 'A single mother raising two daughters, this is a rare gem whereby the female characters aren't shaped or moulded, nor put into the shadows of their male counterparts, they are the lead here. A truly female novel (and they are rare to find...)' A worthwhile novel to hunt down...Messenger's Booker (and more) 'I love the fact that Susan the publisher of Istros books keeps turning up gems like this one .Yet another book that for me shows the importance of books in translation .They take you to another place ,see the world through another eyes and like this can twist what we known as Greek myth into a greater myth of the Balkans and switching what was the male narrative of the original to a modern female narrative.' Stu Allen, Winstonsdad's Blog 'Without fanfare or flamboyance, Kneevic depicts the contrast between existing as a foreigner and the true meaning of "home".' Andjelka Grubisic, Britic online magazine



Book Information
ISBN 9781908236135
Author Marija Knezevic
Format Paperback
Page Count 190
Imprint Istros Books
Publisher Istros Books