Matia by Emily Tsokos Purtill
Matia: The Familial Witness and Protector
Emily Tsokos Purtill’s debut novel Matia (2024) is an evocative and deeply moving family saga that spans four generations and three continents. At its heart, it is a story of legacy, love and the burdens of prophecy. The title, Matia (Greek for “eye”), references both the protective talisman against the “evil eye” and the novel’s central theme: the ways in which generations of women guard, witness and shape one another’s lives. Set between 1940 and 2070, Matia traces the lives of four Greek women: Sia, her daughter Koula, her granddaughter Athena, and her great-granddaughter Clara. Each woman carries her own dreams, secrets and struggles, yet they are all bound by the matia bracelets and the cryptic prophecies of the village fortune reader, Kaferzou. Through their interconnected stories, Tsokos Purtill constructs a multi-generational tapestry of resilience, displacement and identity.
The novel begins with Sia’s migration from Greece to Perth in 1945, a young and hopeful woman escaping a war-ravaged homeland. Armed with the matia bracelets and Kaferzou’s enigmatic predictions, Sia embarks on a journey of survival, cultural adaptation and motherhood. Koula, in contrast, is raised as an Australian Greek, fiercely proud of her heritage yet shaped by the contradictions of diaspora life. She is protective of her family and dedicated to the yoghurt business that sustains them, embodying the tensions between tradition and assimilation. Athena, restless and searching, traverses the world in pursuit of happiness, embodying the existential yearning of a generation seeking meaning beyond familial expectations. Meanwhile, Clara, born into relative security and love, grapples with the notion that true art can only emerge from suffering – a belief at odds with her privileged upbringing. Their narratives unfold layer by layer, revealing both the unique struggles of each woman and the shared threads of hope and longing that connect them.
Despite spanning decades and multiple perspectives, Matia remains a cohesive and immersive read. Tsokos Purtill masterfully transitions between time periods and settings, crafting a narrative that is both fluid and richly textured. The novel’s structure allows the reader to experience the unfolding of the prophecies through each generation’s eyes, culminating in a final revelation that further defines what Sia has held onto. Themes of nostalgia and the passage of time are deeply woven into the narrative, particularly in moments of reflection. A striking passage encapsulates this sentiment:
“Why was there always something sad about an old bedroom? Was it because you remember the dreams you had lying on that bed? Was it sad if you hadn't fulfilled those dreams? Or sadder if you had? Your life was partly finished now. There had already been choices. You weren't just waiting for life to happen. For love to find you. There had been moments. Really important moments and conversations and commitments.”
This introspective tone permeates the novel, making it as much a meditation on time and fate as it is a family saga.
Greek heritage is explored with both affection and nuance. Tsokos Purtill infuses the novel with cultural references, from food and cooking to marriage rituals and mythology. A memorable exchange between Koula and Athena likens their family dynamics to the myth of Demeter and Persephone, reflecting how deeply ingrained these stories are in their worldview. The novel also navigates the generational conflicts that arise within immigrant families – how cultural expectations from the past clash with the aspirations of younger generations growing up in foreign lands. This aspect of Matia resonates strongly with the broader diaspora experience. Tsokos Purtill’s attention to historical and social context further enriches the novel. She portrays the economic hardships of war-torn Greece, the alienation of arriving in Australia with little knowledge of English, and the relentless hard work required to build a new life. These elements ground the novel in realism, adding depth to its emotional and thematic weight.
At its core, Matia is a novel about love: familial love that spans over a century, shaped by sacrifice, hope and the quiet ache of things left unsaid. Through its well-plotted, character-driven storytelling, it offers a poignant reflection on identity, destiny and the ways in which the past lingers in the present. For those who appreciate multi-generational narratives, explorations of cultural identity and deeply felt storytelling, Matia is a novel that will resonate long after the final page.
This article has been commissioned in partnership with Diversity Arts Australia’s StoryCaster project, supported by Multicultural NSW, Creative Australia and Create NSW.
Mia Shouha is a Syrian-Australian emerging writer from Belmore. She is a teacher and PhD researcher with an Honours degree in Political, Economic and Socials Sciences from the University of Sydney. Mia’s writing largely explores themes of the anthropology of crisis, power structures and injustice. She has been published by the social media collective Wanabqa, the Journal of Australian Political Economy and Pike and Hurricane magazine.