The Sapphire Elixir

by F. Voutsakis

In the early 1920s, a handful of interminable exiles, forced to flee their homes in Anatolia, repatriate to the mountains of Northern Greece. Refugees in their own land, they stake a claim upon an ancient cliff-top mooring appearing on no map, and overlooking a mysterious lake.

Lambros Lambrou, the first of them to arrive, obsesses over building a modern system to deliver water from the lake to the primitive village and the harsh land from which they draw sustenance. But the village leaders are envious of any man who might profit over them. They resist the plan and resentments brew, dividing the village. When a prodigal American arrives and offers his land as a conduit for the water, the tapestry of convergent lives unravels. Neither love’s amorphous lightning nor catastrophes of nature or foreign occupation can quell the politics of thirst and the boiling blood of feud.

An ode to our pagan origins, an allegory of the cost of love and loyalty, The Sapphire Elixir unfolds amid the seminal events of the 20th Century as endured in a shrouded corner of the earth.

404 pages, Paperback

First published September 26, 2012

About the author

Born to Greek immigrants, who survived the Nazi occupation and Greek Civil War, F. Voutsakis describes Lake Vegoritis in Macedonia as having cast a spell over him as a young boy that a lifetime later led to the conjuring of his novel, The Sapphire Elixir.

Reviews

[Philip Voutsakis · Rating 5 out of 5]

The novel offers an unconventional perspective on the human character, utilizing lyrical prose and unflinching realism. The novel is an essential read for the admirer of literary fiction.