A review by clairewords
The Gold Letter by Lena Manta

3.0

Destiny caresses the few, but molests the many. Turkish Proverb

Greek and Turkish histories go back a long way, and I profess to knowing little about them, however it's clear that whichever people you belong to there is likely to be a bias towards their stories, and it as likely that these populations are more mixed than they would like to believe, and that there have been generations of cheerful intermingling, despite the differences that kept their identities separate.

However this is a story of Greek families living in what was then known as Constantinople (later renamed as Istanbul, one of many name changes - The city was founded in 667 BC and named Byzantium by the Greeks ), and how the same twist of fate affected three generations of the same two families, where a young woman and a young man fall in love, only to have the union thwarted by their parents - in each generation it is for a different reason, beginning with them not being of the same wealth and social status, where marriage was more of a contract between families decided by the father's.

He had married her not, of course, because he loved her, but because that was what her father had decided...Nobody thought of asking Kleoniki if she wanted to marry the grim Anargyros, with his rough hands and even rougher personality. Besides it was thought to be a very good marriage, since the groom was prosperous and an orphan.
"A big thing, that, my dear!" the matchmaker informed the girl. "Neither a mother-in-law in your face nor a father-in-law to boss you round. Lady and mistress of your own house!"

And in case they thought about falling into the terrain of forbidden love, there were the sins of those who'd had to flee, "discussed with horror and scorn in hushed voices at evening gatherings and tea parties".

Even if some woman, deep down inside, understood the girl, she didn't dare say so. Many romantic souls sighed secretly, calculating what a great love the girl must have felt to run off with her beloved, overlooking the fact that he was a Turk.

However, just because the son's obey their father's and the families are estranged, doesn't stop whatever magnetism exists from bringing the next generation together.

The story and family history is revealed in the present day as a middle age woman Fenia, arrives from Germany to hear from a lawyer in Athens that she has inherited a house from a grandfather she never met. She decides to stay and do up the house and various knocks at the door lead her to meet relatives bearing both good wishes, hostility and the gaps in their shared history.

And The Gold Letter - a beautiful gift imagined and designed by the first generation but never created, finds its way into Fenia's hands and connects the stories together.

I was a little sceptical when I began reading due to the clear prejudices of the characters, whether it was Greeks against Turks or the attitude of the men towards women and certainly the women in all these generations suffer greatly, those in the present day perhaps most of all, however they were indicative of their time and sadly of the reality in some lands where borders change over the years and not everyone can flee, but they remember the violence and deaths of members of their families in the past, which continues to keep them separate for generations.

I was reminded of the wonderful novel about a friendship between two children in the same village, one of Greek and one of Turkish origin by Louis de Bernieres [b:Birds Without Wings|3399|Birds Without Wings|Louis de Bernières|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1320552889l/3399._SY75_.jpg|1690547], also a tragic love story, but one that combines the story of ordinary people's lives in the 1930's with a biography of the leader that will shift the balance of power in Turkey.

I enjoyed the novel, although it covers such a long period of time that there are many characters and connections to juggle and so not much time is spent with some. That said, it's clear that the author is a gifted storyteller invested in her characters, whom I enjoyed following and at times I felt almost like I watching this on film, it's an entertaining, episodic family drama of the old tradition, of couples trying to keep up family and cultural traditions.

Lena Manta was born in Istanbul, Turkey, to Greek parents and moved to Greece at a very young age. She lives in Athens, has written 13 books and this is her second to be translated into English.