Book Review

Title: Eleni

Author: Nicholas Gage

Publisher: New York : Random House, c1983

Reviewed by Paul Campanis (the younger) paul@nisyros.net

This is a very famous book that has been a best seller for 20 years. Finally, I got around to reading it.

In the book "Eleni" I learned a lot about what shaped modern day Greece and how it was impacted by World War Two and the Greek Civil War. It gives great insight into what life was like in rural Greece during this period. Of course I always wondered what was happening in Nisyros during these times as I read the accounts of Lia, the small town where the author's family lived.

Many of the events recorded in the book are tragic and hard to read. None the less it is an amazing story and one worth reading. The authors devotion to the topic is astounding. He literally spent decades researching and investigating the story. He interviewed hundreds of people and did a remarkably thorough job.

The author lives now in Massachusetts. That is the state where I grew up and lived for 30 years. Now I am reading the sequel to the book called: "A Place for Us." This is the story about the author's immigration to the USA and what is was like living in a new country.

There is also a movie out called "Eleni" that I saw years ago and would now like to see again.

Paul B. Campanis (the younger)