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Roots

Matina Apostolou

Following the death of their father, the four women of the family gather to prepare his funeral. Mother, daughter, aunt, sister. Each carries her own share of this loss, her own version of the story. Within the emotionally charged rooms of the family home, their memories will come to life, intertwine and yet clash, highlighting the gulf between memory and truth. The painful coming of age brought about by a parent’s death, the passage of time that leaves its mark on bodies and relationships, and the unseen roots that define us become the centre of a multi-layered narrative about what we inherit and what we choose to leave behind. A tender yet harsh novel that explores the concept of return, the difficulty of saying goodbye, mourning and forgiveness, but also the solidity of memory as the building block of life.

  • Author Matina Apostolou
  • Edited by Dimitris Papakostas
  • Pages: 152
  • ISBN: 978-960-572-838-0
  • Publication: 2026
  • Date of publication: 04/05/2026
  • Dimensions: 13.3 x 20.5 εκ.
  • Category: eBooks

A narrative written with a tenderness that seeks, above all, to understand. And few things are as comforting as the effort to understand.

– Fotini Simou, ELLE

The second and instantly—and most importantly—rightfully much-discussed book, following Particles (Potamos, 2022), by an author who knows how to move others because she knows how it is worth being moved.

– Theodosis Michos, OneMan

How can one talk about a book when, within its pages, they have read a description of themselves or a pivotal, if not traumatic, event in their life? A Doric description of the book would classify it under literature that handles loss and mourning, another would place it on the shelf with existential reads one wants to return to. In any case, it is a novel worth making room for, not just on one’s shelf of favorites, but within oneself as well.

– Marie Claire

"...a novel that does not seek to impress with grand narrative flourishes or dramatic climaxes. On the contrary, it works underground, almost silently, letting its emotional weight accumulate on every page."

– Stelios Papagrigoriou, CNN

Matina Apostolou

Matina Apostolou was born in Arta in 1980. Roots is her second book. Her first, Particles, was published by Potamos (2022).

Roots

Roots

Matina Apostolou

Following the death of their father, the four women of the family gather to prepare his funeral. Mother, daughter, aunt, sister. Each carries her own share of this loss, her own version of the story. Within the emotionally charged rooms of the family home, their memories will come to life, intertwine and yet clash, highlighting the gulf between memory and truth. The painful coming of age brought about by a parent’s death, the passage of time that leaves its mark on bodies and relationships, and the unseen roots that define us become the centre of a multi-layered narrative about what we inherit and what we choose to leave behind. A tender yet harsh novel that explores the concept of return, the difficulty of saying goodbye, mourning and forgiveness, but also the solidity of memory as the building block of life.

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Roots

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