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Arrested Song

By: Irena Karafilly
Narrated by: Melina Theo
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Summary

‘A very accomplished novel' Louis de Bernieres, author of Captain Corelli's Mandolin

‘Hard to put this book down' Sofka Zinovieff

Calliope Adham—young, strong-willed, and recently widowed—is schoolmistress in the village of Molyvos when Hitler's army invades Greece in 1941. Well-read and linguistically gifted, she is recruited by the Germans to act as their liaison officer. It is the beginning of a personal and national saga that will last for several decades.

Calliope's wartime duties bring her into close contact with Lieutenant Lorenz Umbreit, the Wehrmacht commander. The schoolmistress is an active member of the Greek Resistance, yet her friendship with the German blossoms against all odds, in a fishing village seething with dread and suspicion.

Amid privation and death, the villagers' hostility finally erupts, but the bond between Calliope and Umbreit survives, taking unforeseeable turns as Greece is ravaged by civil war and oppressed by military dictatorship. It is against this turbulent background that Calliope emerges as a champion for girls' and women's rights.

Arrested Song is a haunting, sumptuous novel, weaving the private and the historic into a vivid tapestry of Greek island life. Spanning over three decades, it chronicles the story of an extraordinary woman and her lifelong struggle against social and political tyranny.

©2023 Irena Karafilly (P)2023 W. F. Howes Ltd
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Couldn't stop listening

Loved this. Compelling listening, extremely well written and the narrator brought it all to life. Brought to light elements of recent Greek history that are essentially just around the corner and are little known. I was amazed how I could continue to be drawn in and held for the full nearly 15 hours. Thoroughly recommended.

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Not what I expected but enjoyable

I’m a big fan of WW2 related stories, particularly if they’re based on fact or woven around true events. I downloaded this audio book expecting it to be entirely WW2 related, but was pleasantly surprised that the story spanned three decades of the main characters life.

There was lots of really interesting detail about life in post WW2 Greece, a period which I knew absolutely nothing about, and the beautifully descriptive writing really helped me to visualise the warm sun and smell of the sea.

The only slight niggle I had is that I really struggled to keep up with all the Greek characters names, (may just be me) but this resulted in me re listening to chapters to figure out who was who. I also found the narrators German accent quite peculiar!! But as she read the rest of the book so beautifully, I would still certainly recommend.

If this book is up your street, I would highly recommend Beneath the Scarlet Sky by Mark Sullivan

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Very well written book.

I really enjoyed listening to this book. Well written with wonderfully descriptive skill. The unfolding story was gripping and I thoroughly engaged with the characters.

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Narration not to my liking

Story ok. Normal speaking narration ok. But German throaty accent was too much and made me want to cough.

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Beautiful book poor narration

Narration ok apart from the accents which are so strange and quite bad. Otherwise a beautiful book.

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A fascinating & evocative glimpse of greek history in the 20th century, through the life experience of an Island woman.

Thanks to this book you realise how traumatic the history of Greece has been over the past century. It provides a real insight into how these changes impacted on village island life & how resilient the Greek people have been.

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impossible to listen to !

I tried to listen to this book but the narrators strange and extremely annoying German accent for Soldiers was unbearable.
I only managed half way into chapter 1 and had to stop it was painfully bad.
book returned !

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