A fascinating fairytale about love and self denial...

"Water of Immortality" is the most recent work of one of the most significant Greek writers Despina Lelekou - Tataki. It is a fairytale, originally written (but not published) by the author's mother that was finally enriched and re-written by the author. "Water of Immortality" is a hymn to love and self-sacrifice, a pleasant and astonishing read for both young and grown-up people.

A mother of four young girls invents a story in order to amuse her children during the hot summer nights of their holiday. The story is the one of Melanthi, a young woman that sees her lover dead and decides to find the water of immortality in order to bring him back to life. She starts an impossible quest that will make her fight against all kind of difficulties like mean elves, unholy creatures and impassable seas. Her quest is tough and Melanthi's only weapons are her deep love and her kind soul. When she finally reaches her target, after having suffered a lot, love is presented to her eyes with a different face...

Despina Lelekou - Tataki proves once again her ability to rivet the reader's attention with this excellent fairytale. The narration of the author is colorful, very rich in images and allows us to travel together with Melanthi and feel her struggle to overcome her quest. Through the eyes of the youngest daughter, who is deeply affected and worried about her imaginary friend, the story of Melanthi teaches us a lesson about love, hate, beauty, altruism, self-denial and the human will.

A few words from the author

This book concerns a classic Greek fairytale, with which I dealt with a great joy. It was originally written by my mother, the teacher Eleni Prevezanou - Lelekou and I was always charmed by it. I believe that apart from its colorful language, it contains high moral foundations and offers great emotions.

The self sacrifice of in-love Melanthi, in order to resurrect her lover, gives the reader feelings of altruism and self-denial. The hero suffered a lot after wandering around mythical lands in her quest for the water of immortality, but she never stepped back. She abided the promise she made to herself to bring her lover back to life. Her love proved greater than death.

The story is fascinating and the narration of Eleni Prevezanou - Lelekou is educative and rejoicing. The greatest motive for me was to deal with the reformation of the tale in order to make it also enjoyable for the public. I wish that the readers of the tale find it as charming as I did.

Despoina Lelekou - Tataki

Read a sample chapter of the book

Publisher: N. & S. Batsioulas
ISBN: 960-89288-2-6	Pages: 165
Publ. date: October/2006	Cover: Soft
Size: 14x21