"Ancient Rust," the first novel by Maro Douka, was published in 1979, creating a sensation among the public and critics. It was preceded by the short story collection "The Pit" (1974), the novella collection published under the title "Where Are the Wings?" (1975), and the short story collection "Kare Fix" (1976).

Nearly thirty years later, while it has established itself as an emblematic work of modern Greek prose, it is being reissued in a revised edition by Patakis Publications, as part of the gradual reissue of all the author's works. The text is accompanied by reviews written for the book at the time of its first publication, capturing the enthusiastic reception from critics, as well as its strong impact on a society that has not yet closed its accounts with the past.

As critic Kostas Stamatios wrote in the newspaper "Ta Nea," it is "an almost documentary account of a schizophrenically tragic era." "...It is the right of every generation to bring its own dream to the foreground and to turn it into reality by its own measures. The author has nothing to envy from what she inherited from a series of remarkable Greek prose writers. Because, in turn, she captures in her own expressive way what it means for her: I heard, I saw, I felt." Angelos Furiotis, "Akropolis."

"Ancient Rust is simultaneously the story of an emotional education, the portrait of a generation, and the confession of a failure. If Maro Douka's book enjoyed such success in Greece, immediately after its publication, and remains an important work, it is because a whole generation recognizes itself in it." Fucille Farnoux, "Le Monde."