About the Author

The daughter of a Greek father and a Minnesotan mother, Eleni N. Gage graduated from Harvard University with a degree in folkore and mythology before pursuing a career in magazine journalism and earning an MFA in creative writing from Columbia University. As a writer and editor, she worked at Allure, Elle, InStyle, and People magazines, and was the executive editor of Martha Stewart Weddings.

The author of the travel memoir North of Ithaka and the novels Other Waters and The Ladies of Managua, Eleni is now a contributor to Martha Stewart Living and a freelance writer whose work has appeared in publications ranging from The Wall Street Journal to Travel + Leisure.

Fulfilling the predictions of an Indian astrologer who told her that she’d marry a “soft-hearted businessman who wasn’t born in the United States,” Eleni is the wife of a Nicaraguan coffee trader and the mother of two Greekaraguan children. They live in New York City, and bake a magic cake every year on New Year’s Day to attract good luck.