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A Perfect Stone
How do you find a place to belong when there’s nowhere else to go? Living alone, eighty-year-old Jim Philips potters in his garden feeding his magpies. He doesn’t think much of his nosy neighbours or telemarketers. All he wants to do is live in peace. Cleaning out a box belonging to his late wife, he finds something which triggers the memories of a childhood he’s hidden, not just from his overprotective middle-aged daughter, Helen, but from himself. When Jim has a stroke and begins speaking another language, Helen is shocked to find out her father is not who she thinks he is. Jim’s suppressed memories surface in the most unimaginable way when he finally confronts what happened when, as a ten-year-old, he was forced at gunpoint to leave his family and trek barefoot through the mountains to escape the Greek Civil War in 1948. A Perfect Stone is a sweeping tale of survival, loss and love.
- GenresAustralia
271 pages, Kindle Edition
Published October 10, 2018
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Displaying 1 - 25 of 25 reviews
November 8, 2018
‘During the Greek Civil War, it is estimated that there were up to 38,000 Aegean Macedonian and Greek children removed from their homes.’
The power of A Perfect Stone lies in its historical narrative, outlining the fate of Greece’s children during the years of the Greek Civil War. It’s an interesting account of one the side effects of war, the displacement of children via evacuation to ensure their safety. I’m not a huge fan of child narrators, but in this instance, it enhanced the story greatly. By journeying in Dimitri’s shoes as he was removed from his home, not given any information on where he was going and why – I can only assume that children weren’t entitled to know their own fate on account of being children – we are fully immersed in his perilous and fearful journey.
‘They know instinctively the forest will protect them from being seen and the first children desperately run to its safety. But too many are out in the open when a blackbird swoops past and the first ear-splitting explosion lights the side of the mountain.’
The heavy uncertainty that must have weighed on these children is conveyed so well and made for compelling reading. This is the first in-depth account of the Greek Civil War that I have read and it piqued my interest enough to set out and research it more fully. The end of WWII was not the end of war for many nations, some left in a state of destruction and desolation. I am finding myself more and more interested in this immediate post-war period of civil unrest.
‘In 1949, when the Civil War ended, Dimitri and the rest of the Macedonian children were told that the Greek Government had decreed them to be Greek, and the teaching of their language stopped. The Red Cross interviewed them and tried to reunite children with families. One by one they left until the only remaining children were orphans who became wards of the state.’
The women who spirited these children to safety were true heroes in my opinion. I would love to read more on this, but from their perspective. Carrying the weight of their own loss, these women travelled with large groups of children through rough terrain, uncertain of enemy occupation, with little to no food and water. In some cases, the only thing carrying them forward must have been a belief that what they were heading to was better than what they had left behind. I wonder if I would have the strength to be like these women, your own children dead, your husband most likely dead as well or imprisoned, trekking through forests and scaling a mountain while hiding from the enemy with a dozen or more children and other grieving women depending upon you for safe passage. Extraordinary.
‘A woman begins to hum. Then another. Soon they’re singing quietly and some of the children join in. It’s a song from home. A lullaby for babies. The children remember and for a short time they forget their tiredness, hunger and pain.’
Dual timeline narratives are tricky beasts, but they are booming in popularity at present. Regular readers of this blog will know that I have read a lot of these sorts of novels on account of my love for historical fiction. But they’re not my favourite mode of storytelling when it comes to this genre. Invariably, the contemporary story is linked to the historical one via a forgotten or mysterious box containing a photo or piece of memorabilia, letters or a diary. I’m not trying to be harsh here, but I’ve honestly, with no exaggeration, read hundreds of dual timeline narratives, probably half of them war related. I’ll overlook this commonality if the contemporary story is strong, and by that, I mean, it can hold its own in terms of story engagement and character development. The contemporary story in A Perfect Stone didn’t measure up for me. It wasn’t substantial enough, and it wasn’t engaging enough. I could certainly see the foundations the author was laying, but Jim was too sketchy to carry this narrative on his shoulders and the contemporary story came off as more of a filler than a driving force. A straight historical set during the years of the Greek Civil War would have carried more weight in my opinion, as the author seems very much at home within the historical fiction genre.
For anyone interested in reading about the Greek Civil War, A Perfect Stone is a good place to start. It’s a powerful tale of survival and loss, grounded in history.
Thanks is extended to the author for providing me with a copy of A Perfect Stone for review.
The power of A Perfect Stone lies in its historical narrative, outlining the fate of Greece’s children during the years of the Greek Civil War. It’s an interesting account of one the side effects of war, the displacement of children via evacuation to ensure their safety. I’m not a huge fan of child narrators, but in this instance, it enhanced the story greatly. By journeying in Dimitri’s shoes as he was removed from his home, not given any information on where he was going and why – I can only assume that children weren’t entitled to know their own fate on account of being children – we are fully immersed in his perilous and fearful journey.
‘They know instinctively the forest will protect them from being seen and the first children desperately run to its safety. But too many are out in the open when a blackbird swoops past and the first ear-splitting explosion lights the side of the mountain.’
The heavy uncertainty that must have weighed on these children is conveyed so well and made for compelling reading. This is the first in-depth account of the Greek Civil War that I have read and it piqued my interest enough to set out and research it more fully. The end of WWII was not the end of war for many nations, some left in a state of destruction and desolation. I am finding myself more and more interested in this immediate post-war period of civil unrest.
‘In 1949, when the Civil War ended, Dimitri and the rest of the Macedonian children were told that the Greek Government had decreed them to be Greek, and the teaching of their language stopped. The Red Cross interviewed them and tried to reunite children with families. One by one they left until the only remaining children were orphans who became wards of the state.’
The women who spirited these children to safety were true heroes in my opinion. I would love to read more on this, but from their perspective. Carrying the weight of their own loss, these women travelled with large groups of children through rough terrain, uncertain of enemy occupation, with little to no food and water. In some cases, the only thing carrying them forward must have been a belief that what they were heading to was better than what they had left behind. I wonder if I would have the strength to be like these women, your own children dead, your husband most likely dead as well or imprisoned, trekking through forests and scaling a mountain while hiding from the enemy with a dozen or more children and other grieving women depending upon you for safe passage. Extraordinary.
‘A woman begins to hum. Then another. Soon they’re singing quietly and some of the children join in. It’s a song from home. A lullaby for babies. The children remember and for a short time they forget their tiredness, hunger and pain.’
Dual timeline narratives are tricky beasts, but they are booming in popularity at present. Regular readers of this blog will know that I have read a lot of these sorts of novels on account of my love for historical fiction. But they’re not my favourite mode of storytelling when it comes to this genre. Invariably, the contemporary story is linked to the historical one via a forgotten or mysterious box containing a photo or piece of memorabilia, letters or a diary. I’m not trying to be harsh here, but I’ve honestly, with no exaggeration, read hundreds of dual timeline narratives, probably half of them war related. I’ll overlook this commonality if the contemporary story is strong, and by that, I mean, it can hold its own in terms of story engagement and character development. The contemporary story in A Perfect Stone didn’t measure up for me. It wasn’t substantial enough, and it wasn’t engaging enough. I could certainly see the foundations the author was laying, but Jim was too sketchy to carry this narrative on his shoulders and the contemporary story came off as more of a filler than a driving force. A straight historical set during the years of the Greek Civil War would have carried more weight in my opinion, as the author seems very much at home within the historical fiction genre.
For anyone interested in reading about the Greek Civil War, A Perfect Stone is a good place to start. It’s a powerful tale of survival and loss, grounded in history.
Thanks is extended to the author for providing me with a copy of A Perfect Stone for review.
February 10, 2019
This is a complicated event in Greek history and even today, a story which still divides communities. The author has chosen to tell it from duel timelines. Jim, now living in Australia, is hospitalized and his past is uncovered. We then step back to the civil war between the Royalists, called the fascists in the book, and the Partisans, the Commiunists. The story is then told through the eyes of a child. At times I was not sure if this was meant to be Young Adult fiction, as seeing things through the eyes of a young boy is limited. It was certainly a harrowing time yet as we follow the events of young Jim - Dimitri - I am not sure if anyone unfamiliar with these events would fully appreciate why these children were being led away from their villages. However, the author does give an account at the end but I feel that it may have been more helpful if that had been woven into the story more comprehensively from the beginning. This said, it is definately a story that the world should know more about and I applaud the author for writing it. Well done.
November 5, 2018
Greek migrants have been coming to Melbourne ever since the Gold Rush but their numbers surged in the postwar era when Arthur Calwell’s ‘populate or perish’ immigration program offered hope and a home to peoples devastated by the war. People of Greek heritage are now an integral part of the fabric of our city, so much so that Melbourne is said to be the third largest Greek city in the world. Like many other Melburnians I have friends of Greek heritage and I have celebrated their festivals, dined in their restaurants, and tangled my toes in Zorba’s dance to the music of Mikis Theodorakis on Greek Independence Day. And yet until I read A Perfect Stone by Melbourne author Sylvia Marakaltsas, I did not know a thing about the Greek Civil War (1946-1949).
Even more embarrassing is that I did not know that amongst the genial older Greeks of my acquaintance, some may have been refugees from that civil war. Some, perhaps, of the 38000 children of Northern Greece who were subject to forced evacuations from their homes. And some perhaps, whose identity as Macedonians is still contested, even today.
A Perfect Stone fictionalises this situation through the story of Jim Phillips, a Melbourne man who is to all intents and purposes an Aussie through and through, but in his old age finds long-suppressed memories of his childhood as Dimitri coming back. The dual timeline takes the reader from Northern Greece in 1948 where Dimitri makes his horrific journey from his village to safety over the border, to present-day Melbourne where this past life resurfaces, much to the consternation of his only daughter Helen who knew nothing about it.
To read the rest of my review please visit https://anzlitlovers.com/2018/11/06/a...
Even more embarrassing is that I did not know that amongst the genial older Greeks of my acquaintance, some may have been refugees from that civil war. Some, perhaps, of the 38000 children of Northern Greece who were subject to forced evacuations from their homes. And some perhaps, whose identity as Macedonians is still contested, even today.
A Perfect Stone fictionalises this situation through the story of Jim Phillips, a Melbourne man who is to all intents and purposes an Aussie through and through, but in his old age finds long-suppressed memories of his childhood as Dimitri coming back. The dual timeline takes the reader from Northern Greece in 1948 where Dimitri makes his horrific journey from his village to safety over the border, to present-day Melbourne where this past life resurfaces, much to the consternation of his only daughter Helen who knew nothing about it.
To read the rest of my review please visit https://anzlitlovers.com/2018/11/06/a...
November 27, 2018
Being a typical old school white bread Aussie baby boomer all I learned at school in the 1960s was English (Anglo- Saxon) history. Such an insular, island mentality which doesn’t reflect modern day Australia at all, and didn’t then. In the last decade I watched Joanna Lumley in one of her television travel journals interview a survivor from an earlier Greek tragedy. In Jeffrey Eugenides novel Middlesex, there were horrific and affecting glimpses of this period. In the late 1970s in Paris I listened to a young Greek student speak emotionally about the rule of the Generals.
And just last week I read A Perfect Stone by S.C. Karakaltsas set in part during the Greek Civil War. The juxtaposition of chapters on Dimitri’s life as a child fleeing war torn Greece and his later life as Jim is powerful. It takes a stroke/neurological crisis to break down the many layers of a seemingly average older Aussie bloke called Jim Phillips. The effect is heartbreaking - for his middle-aged daughter Helen, the hospital staff, his neighbours and us - the readers.
Recurrent images, from the powerful portrayal of young Dimitri’s shame and guilt about a dead soldier to his later life in Australia as Jim and his everyday squabbles with his middle aged daughter, to something as simple as his care and concern for a Magpie family in the midst of such an emotional storm, provide a strong and compassionate portrait of the main character over his lifetime.
The story of young children - their exhaustion, hunger and ultimate survival is riveting. It makes me think differently about my neighbours - eastern European, Asian – of where they’ve come from and what they may have endured to get here.
I loved the writing and the fastidious research and simply couldn’t put it down.
And just last week I read A Perfect Stone by S.C. Karakaltsas set in part during the Greek Civil War. The juxtaposition of chapters on Dimitri’s life as a child fleeing war torn Greece and his later life as Jim is powerful. It takes a stroke/neurological crisis to break down the many layers of a seemingly average older Aussie bloke called Jim Phillips. The effect is heartbreaking - for his middle-aged daughter Helen, the hospital staff, his neighbours and us - the readers.
Recurrent images, from the powerful portrayal of young Dimitri’s shame and guilt about a dead soldier to his later life in Australia as Jim and his everyday squabbles with his middle aged daughter, to something as simple as his care and concern for a Magpie family in the midst of such an emotional storm, provide a strong and compassionate portrait of the main character over his lifetime.
The story of young children - their exhaustion, hunger and ultimate survival is riveting. It makes me think differently about my neighbours - eastern European, Asian – of where they’ve come from and what they may have endured to get here.
I loved the writing and the fastidious research and simply couldn’t put it down.
January 22, 2019
Like crossing a Ho Chi Minh city street to get to the other side, the movement of time in this book is melodic. There is immediately a soft spot for the character of Jim in his fight to stay present, constantly reassuring Helen and his anguish as he captures the memories of his story.
And then, the theme of the stone, a beautiful thread that makes me want to look and find a stone of my own.
This is a wonderful book. It is informative, wrenching and hopeful. A must read.
And then, the theme of the stone, a beautiful thread that makes me want to look and find a stone of my own.
This is a wonderful book. It is informative, wrenching and hopeful. A must read.
April 2, 2019
A beautiful story told from two timelines - Jim in the modern day and Dimitri the child. Harrowing in parts it deals with fear, loss and grief. It’s a great yarn and exposes a little known events in the history of Greece and the Slavic states.
It’s well paced and the author manages to keep you drawn in by ending the chapters with a bit of a cliffhanger. The characters are well drawn and sympathetic: Helen’s relationship with her father and her father’s feelings about Tony, Helen’s partner, are amusing but bitter sweet as well.
It brought me to tears in more than one passage. I
It’s well paced and the author manages to keep you drawn in by ending the chapters with a bit of a cliffhanger. The characters are well drawn and sympathetic: Helen’s relationship with her father and her father’s feelings about Tony, Helen’s partner, are amusing but bitter sweet as well.
It brought me to tears in more than one passage. I
November 9, 2018
I was greatly moved by this story of a young boy who was forced to flee the Greek Civil war in 1948. The anguish of the old man dealing with what happened seemed real as I've met older people who have lived through war and have suffered in silence because of it. I liked the switch in timelines and really enjoyed the writing. I was thoroughly immersed and couldn't put it down. Highly recommended.
February 17, 2021
Loved this book. Poignant and engaging, the switching between past and present was starkly contrasted. This is a relatively unknown period of history that was very sensitively portrayed. I would recommend a read.
September 11, 2021
A great read!
I enjoyed learning about another part of the world and how WWII affected it and the painful cost of human lives.
The characters were believable and you could easily emphasize with them.
I enjoyed learning about another part of the world and how WWII affected it and the painful cost of human lives.
The characters were believable and you could easily emphasize with them.
May 25, 2022
Fantastic
This book covers a part of WW2 history that most of us have never learned It follows a young boy lost in war torn Macedonia to a happy in Australia years later. Well written and a compelling read.
This book covers a part of WW2 history that most of us have never learned It follows a young boy lost in war torn Macedonia to a happy in Australia years later. Well written and a compelling read.
October 23, 2018
Another fantastic story by S.C Karakaltsas
June 23, 2022
moving story
This is a truly moving tale of war and the ravages of war. It brings to mind how the things in our life live on with us.
This is a truly moving tale of war and the ravages of war. It brings to mind how the things in our life live on with us.
February 7, 2019
"It's for every child who was, and is, a refugee seeking the right to a better life", says SC Karakalsas of her latest novel. Seeking any life at all, one might say.
Elderly Australian Jim is grieving for his wife Anna, and finding life more and more difficult to manage despite the help of his daughter Helen. When a stroke causes Jim to lose his ability to speak English, his secret history as a Macedonian child refugee during the Greek Civil War (1946-1949) becomes impossible to hide any longer.
"A Perfect Stone" is a vivid and engaging novel that brims with believable characters and a great deal of observational wisdom. Jim - Dimitri - as an older character is a little muddled in his thinking, and the tenderness of the narration makes us understand perfectly why he might seem cantankerous to those around him. Without his wife Anna, he has less direction and certainty about the world, but somehow he has to let Helen know the truth of her heritage.
As a child, Dimitri and his friends suffer the privations and dislocations of a country at war with itself, with whole families never entirely safe from the demands and decrees of the opposing warring parties. Families are separated and children are evacuated to neighbouring countries, travelling with great hardship through difficult territory that is being fought over by partisans and government troops. Add to that the unsettled status of Macedonian families in the new Greek state, and the awful situations of otherness/refugees/them-us/poverty/disenfranchisement appear endemic.
Jim/Dimitri and his wife Anna face their difficulties with courage and sheer hard work. Their contributions to the sanctity of life and to their new country are a wonder and an inspiration. The ending of the book was handled with great care too.
This book will be enjoyed by readers who love history, family stories, migration stories, and historical mysteries. This is also a great book for everyone who'd like to know a little bit more about where we all come from.
Elderly Australian Jim is grieving for his wife Anna, and finding life more and more difficult to manage despite the help of his daughter Helen. When a stroke causes Jim to lose his ability to speak English, his secret history as a Macedonian child refugee during the Greek Civil War (1946-1949) becomes impossible to hide any longer.
"A Perfect Stone" is a vivid and engaging novel that brims with believable characters and a great deal of observational wisdom. Jim - Dimitri - as an older character is a little muddled in his thinking, and the tenderness of the narration makes us understand perfectly why he might seem cantankerous to those around him. Without his wife Anna, he has less direction and certainty about the world, but somehow he has to let Helen know the truth of her heritage.
As a child, Dimitri and his friends suffer the privations and dislocations of a country at war with itself, with whole families never entirely safe from the demands and decrees of the opposing warring parties. Families are separated and children are evacuated to neighbouring countries, travelling with great hardship through difficult territory that is being fought over by partisans and government troops. Add to that the unsettled status of Macedonian families in the new Greek state, and the awful situations of otherness/refugees/them-us/poverty/disenfranchisement appear endemic.
Jim/Dimitri and his wife Anna face their difficulties with courage and sheer hard work. Their contributions to the sanctity of life and to their new country are a wonder and an inspiration. The ending of the book was handled with great care too.
This book will be enjoyed by readers who love history, family stories, migration stories, and historical mysteries. This is also a great book for everyone who'd like to know a little bit more about where we all come from.
June 13, 2020
Nine-year-old Dimitri is exposed to the senseless brutalities of war when his father is taken away to prison for no apparent fault. Later he becomes one of the thousands of children forcibly removed from their homes to save them from becoming victims of the Greek civil war. Accompanied by a few brave women, Dimitri and his friends make a gruelling trek through the mountains without adequate food, clothing or shelter and exposed to bombs dropped from “blackbirds” as well as the risk of a chance encounter with soldiers who might or might not be sympathetic. The heroism and compassion of the children are awe-inspiring but never defies belief.
The story of the trek and Dimitri’s assimilation into a new life in a new country is told in the memoirs of Jim, an octogenarian of failing memory. Who nevertheless retains a sense of humour. After a stroke puts him in hospital, his over-protective daughter, Helen, helps him to confront a past he has hidden and overcome the guilt he has carried for decades.
This is a fictional story but based on actual events, and the author wastes not a word in evoking sympathy for those most vulnerable members of society, without ever becoming maudlin.
I didn’t know there was a Greek civil war. And although I vaguely understood that children were sometimes evacuated for their own safety, I never gave a thought to how those children felt about being separated from their parents and how they may have suffered in other ways. I now know that P.T.S.S. is not confined to soldiers.
This book is the best kind of historical novel: engaging, enlightening and thought-provoking. Kudos to the author for a well-told tale.
The story of the trek and Dimitri’s assimilation into a new life in a new country is told in the memoirs of Jim, an octogenarian of failing memory. Who nevertheless retains a sense of humour. After a stroke puts him in hospital, his over-protective daughter, Helen, helps him to confront a past he has hidden and overcome the guilt he has carried for decades.
This is a fictional story but based on actual events, and the author wastes not a word in evoking sympathy for those most vulnerable members of society, without ever becoming maudlin.
I didn’t know there was a Greek civil war. And although I vaguely understood that children were sometimes evacuated for their own safety, I never gave a thought to how those children felt about being separated from their parents and how they may have suffered in other ways. I now know that P.T.S.S. is not confined to soldiers.
This book is the best kind of historical novel: engaging, enlightening and thought-provoking. Kudos to the author for a well-told tale.
April 12, 2019
A wonderful read
This book was a complex painful history brought to life to remind us of things we can’t allow to happen again. Children taken from their homes for ‘safety’ harrowingly make their way to what is supposed to be freedom. Through the eyes of one of the children, a Macedonian boy who really doesn’t understand the difference between partisans, communists and royalist we see the effects not of just the moment but of the moments that follow for those who survive.
Modern day Australian Jim, now a very old man, has lived his entire life subjugating his identity and yet the events haunt him and taunt him constantly. It is only In writing them down that his family begin to understand the complexity of divided communities, just as we, the readers, do but this is not is a history book. This is a novel about needless division and the waste of lives that can result from the battles even if you survive the war itself.
Well-written (some minor editing flaws) the novel cleverly gives us two time spans and is excellent reading.
This book was a complex painful history brought to life to remind us of things we can’t allow to happen again. Children taken from their homes for ‘safety’ harrowingly make their way to what is supposed to be freedom. Through the eyes of one of the children, a Macedonian boy who really doesn’t understand the difference between partisans, communists and royalist we see the effects not of just the moment but of the moments that follow for those who survive.
Modern day Australian Jim, now a very old man, has lived his entire life subjugating his identity and yet the events haunt him and taunt him constantly. It is only In writing them down that his family begin to understand the complexity of divided communities, just as we, the readers, do but this is not is a history book. This is a novel about needless division and the waste of lives that can result from the battles even if you survive the war itself.
Well-written (some minor editing flaws) the novel cleverly gives us two time spans and is excellent reading.
January 30, 2019
A Perfect Stone is a moving story of childhood and old age set against the traumatic experiences of child refugees during the Greek Civil War. The novel splits the protagonist's life into parallel stories. Jim is eighty and growing increasingly irritable in his old age since the death of his wife, his life long love. Dimitri is the child of a Macedonian family in northern Greece that desperately tries to stay together through poverty, oppression and war. The story follows the suffering of both Jim the older man and Dimitri the boy. Both have secrets that threaten to tear their lives apart. A fictional story drawn from real experiences, Dimitri/Jim become stand ins for all children throughout history forced from their homes in time of war and destined never to be reunited with their birth families.
August 7, 2019
A Perfect Stone tells the moving story of Dimitri, a child refugee from the Greek civil war.
Dimitri’s Australian name is Jim and he had never told his daughter, Helen his true story or heritage, and that of her mother, Anna.
Since the 50s he has suppressed his memories but in a series of flashbacks he remembers them, and the reader learns of the horror and guilt he has tried to hide.
Jim, a Macedonian who grew up in northern Greece. tells the little-known story of this civil war and how he managed to escape, balanced by his belief that all war is wrong and it’s the children who suffer the most.
S C Karakaltsas has written a beautiful tale- how immigrants often keep the past at bay in order to succeed in a new country. In the end there’s a resolution with his daughter and within Dimitri too.
Simply told, I really enjoyed this book.
Dimitri’s Australian name is Jim and he had never told his daughter, Helen his true story or heritage, and that of her mother, Anna.
Since the 50s he has suppressed his memories but in a series of flashbacks he remembers them, and the reader learns of the horror and guilt he has tried to hide.
Jim, a Macedonian who grew up in northern Greece. tells the little-known story of this civil war and how he managed to escape, balanced by his belief that all war is wrong and it’s the children who suffer the most.
S C Karakaltsas has written a beautiful tale- how immigrants often keep the past at bay in order to succeed in a new country. In the end there’s a resolution with his daughter and within Dimitri too.
Simply told, I really enjoyed this book.
February 5, 2019
A Perfect Stone is a dual timeline story with one narrative set in Melbourne, where Jim Phillips, makes a discovery that brings back long-suppressed memoires from his childhood during the Greek Civil War in 1948. In the other narrative, a young boy, Dimitri (Jim), makes a horrendous journey from his village to safety over the border. It is a story of loss and survival intersperesed with the history of a war I knew little about. Highly recommended.
April 17, 2020
Karakaltsas writes a clever dual narrative of one man’s difficult journey of recording his harrowing war-torn childhood.
Highlighting moments of terror juxtaposed with lifetime friendships forged from shared experience, the story is told from Jim’s twilight years of reclaimed stolen identity.
Nostalgic, tragic, yet heartwarming. Obviously well researched and convincing.
Highlighting moments of terror juxtaposed with lifetime friendships forged from shared experience, the story is told from Jim’s twilight years of reclaimed stolen identity.
Nostalgic, tragic, yet heartwarming. Obviously well researched and convincing.
February 17, 2023
excellent
There aren’t any other historical fiction books on the Greek civil war as far as I am aware. My grandfather was (involuntarily) involved in the fighting and he told me a few stories which align with the context of the book. Really enjoyed the book well written and did a great job of depicting the hatred and misery of a civil war
There aren’t any other historical fiction books on the Greek civil war as far as I am aware. My grandfather was (involuntarily) involved in the fighting and he told me a few stories which align with the context of the book. Really enjoyed the book well written and did a great job of depicting the hatred and misery of a civil war
July 15, 2019
This book has received a Discovering Diamonds Review:
Helen Hollick
founder #DDRevs
"This is a fictional story but based on actual events, and the author wastes not a word in evoking sympathy for those most vulnerable members of society, without ever becoming maudlin."
Helen Hollick
founder #DDRevs
"This is a fictional story but based on actual events, and the author wastes not a word in evoking sympathy for those most vulnerable members of society, without ever becoming maudlin."
June 10, 2020
Interesting
I enjoyed this book. I didn't know about the Greek civil war so enjoyed it from a historical perspective. The struggle of the children is heartbreaking but offers hope for anyone willing to work and put forth the effort to succeed in life.
I enjoyed this book. I didn't know about the Greek civil war so enjoyed it from a historical perspective. The struggle of the children is heartbreaking but offers hope for anyone willing to work and put forth the effort to succeed in life.
December 14, 2018
Could not put this book down. It was awesome reading and I'd recommend this to anyone who loves a good story. Excellent holiday reading
June 10, 2019
I loved it
A fascinating look at the way children were separated from their families and sent across borders during the Greek Civil War.
A fascinating look at the way children were separated from their families and sent across borders during the Greek Civil War.
June 5, 2024
Eh…it was just ok. The current day wasn’t informative enough for me. Then it was over.
Displaying 1 - 25 of 25 reviews