544 pages
English language
Published July 15, 1994 by Secker & Warburg.
This is a duplicate. Please update your lists. See openlibrary.org/works/OL7920331W.
Life on a Greek Island during World War 2. Satirises the idiotic incompetence of the warmongers, while celebrating the quirky humanity of the rest.
I'll have a more detailed review later on in my blog, but for now I can say that this was a pretty good book.
I haven't read too much historical fiction, so I was very interested to see the perception of WWII in Greece and Italy and the evolution of their ideas around that time.
The characters were quite interesting, but the pacing was a bit off since the author would frequently stop to talk about the history of the war or the culture of the people before going back to the characters. Those were interesting interludes, but they did chop up the pace of the plot. It did bring a grander scope to the story rather than focusing just on Pelagia and her life.
The last third of the story felt very rushed as ~40 years passed in a few chapters. It's justified though, given the nature of the …
I'll have a more detailed review later on in my blog, but for now I can say that this was a pretty good book.
I haven't read too much historical fiction, so I was very interested to see the perception of WWII in Greece and Italy and the evolution of their ideas around that time.
The characters were quite interesting, but the pacing was a bit off since the author would frequently stop to talk about the history of the war or the culture of the people before going back to the characters. Those were interesting interludes, but they did chop up the pace of the plot. It did bring a grander scope to the story rather than focusing just on Pelagia and her life.
The last third of the story felt very rushed as ~40 years passed in a few chapters. It's justified though, given the nature of the story at that point; I would say the end parts are a bit bittersweet.
