I had great hopes for this novel, by Victoria Hislop, but was rather disappointed by its execution. This book is half history of the city of Thessaloniki, Greece, and half family history of characters who never seem to come alive, almost completely without character development. The good people are very good, indeed, and the bad people are dastardly in their behavior, but little motivates them in the novel. The plot extends from 1917, with the expulsion of the Greeks from Smyrna, Turkey, then covers the expulsion of the Muslims from Thessaloniki, the expulsion of the Jews from Thessaloniki in 1942 under the German Occupation, the Greek Civil War between the andartes (Communists) vs their Greek brethren, etc etc. Too much grave history and not enough character development.

Share/Like this Review?