Greece

Eleni by Nicholas Gage

In 1948, as civil war ravaged Greece, children were abducted and sent to communist "camps" inside the Iron Curtain. Eleni Gatzoyiannis, forty-one, defied the traditions of her small village and the terror of the communist insurgents to arrange for the escape of her three daughters and her son, Nicola. For that act, she was imprisoned, tortured, and executed in cold blood.

Nicholas Gage joined his father in Massachusetts at the age of nine and grew up to become a top New York Times investigative reporter, honing his skills with one thought in mind: to return to Greece and uncover the one story he cared about most: the story of his mother.

Eleni takes you into the heart a village destroyed in the name of ideals and into the soul of a truly heroic woman.

My Thoughts:

This book was fascinating and hard to read all at the same time.  Hard because of how horrific and real the story of Eleni is and fascination because of how heroic and even legendary she was.  There were times where I wasn't in right frame of mind to read about the heavy and dark circumstances that these people lived through for so many years, but when I finished the book I missed it, and even mourned that it was over.

The book was lengthy with details of war and history at times, but as I got about half way through it the pace picked up and I looked forward to reading it everyday.  The author, being an investigative reporter, as well as being able to give his first hand account of what happened, contributes to this book being very well written, thorough with facts and details, and an enjoyable read.  It reads like a history book at times, as well as a novel at times and he even gives his investigative narrative of how he searched for and found people in order to have their perspectives and all the facts included. He also includes his emotional struggles with coming face to face with those responsible for the torture and death of his mother.

Overall, I'm glad I picked this book to read about Greece. Greece has so much history and culture that it was hard to pick what to read about from their country.  This book is considered THE classic of Greece and I believe I read somewhere that it is required reading for most students in their country. I was not even aware that Greece had a civil war following WWII so it was educational to me, as well as culturally enlightening.

My Ratings:

Well written:  Yes

Easy to follow:  Yes

Held my attention:  Most of the Time

Would I recommend this to a friend:  Yes
Did it represent the country: Yes

Content:

Explicit Language:  Some, not much

Sexual content:  No

Violence:  Very Much, I would recommend for ages 17+

Dark and depressing content, not an uplifting read, but inspiring.

Genre: Historical

Pages: 480