About the book
Tea Leaves and Dreams tells a love story about a young, Greek peasant girl named Eleni, and a Turkish lad, Veli, a Janissary in the service of the Sultan of the Ottoman Empire. Caught in the middle of the Greek Revolution against the Ottoman Empire in 1821, the couple’s fate is inexorably interwoven with its vicious battles, its fluctuating politics, and its evil intrigues.
The tale also includes Eleni’s family, consisting of her three brothers, Kosma, Pano, and Georgaki, and her mother, Kyria Vasiliki, who live in a small village of the province of Arkadia in the Peloponnesus in Greece. The war pits brother against brother, brother against sister, peasant against politician, man against man, and rips apart the members of the once loving family forever.
Rich in the customs, the beliefs, and the superstitions of the Greeks and Turks of the first half of the 19th century, the story also tells of the important role that religion plays in both Greek and Turkish life.
About the author
Bess Makris Stamatakos has an A.B. Degree in Mathematics from Indiana University and a Ph.D. in Philosophy from Michigan State University, and has taught at both institutions. She lives in Okemos, Michigan, with her husband, Louis C. Stamatakos, Professor Emeritus at Michigan State University, and has three grown sons and five grandchildren.
Book details Softcover: 377 pages
Publisher: Feather Star Publishing (August 2007)
Language: English
ISBN: 9780977376940
Dimensions: 5.5 x 8.5 x 1 inches
How to order
You may order the book directly from the author by sending an e-mail to her at stamatak@msu.edu.