My Last Lament

Description

A poignant and evocative novel of one Greek woman’s story of her own—and her
nation’s—epic struggle in the aftermath of World War II. Aliki is one of the
last of her kind, a lamenter who mourns and celebrates the passing of life.
She is part of an evolving Greece, one moving steadily away from its rural
traditions. To capture the fading folk art of lamenting, an American
researcher asks Aliki to record her laments, but in response, Aliki sings her
own story… It begins in a village in northeast Greece, where Aliki witnesses
the occupying Nazi soldiers execute her father for stealing squash. Taken in
by her friend Takis’s mother, Aliki is joined by a Jewish refugee and her son,
Stelios. When the village is torched and its people massacred, Aliki, Takis
and Stelios are able to escape just as the war is ending. Fleeing across the
chaotic landscape of a postwar Greece, the three become a makeshift family.
They’re bound by friendship and grief, but torn apart by betrayal, madness and
heartbreak. Through Aliki’s powerful voice, an unforgettable one that blends
light and dark with wry humor, My Last Lament delivers a fitting eulogy to a
way of life and provides a vivid portrait of a timeless Greek woman, whose
story of love and loss is an eternal one. Read more

Features:

Product Details:

• Publisher ‏ : ‎ Berkley; First Edition (April 4, 2017)
• Language ‏ : ‎ English
• Hardcover ‏ : ‎ 352 pages
• ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 0399583408
• ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 07
• Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 1.19 pounds
• Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 6.38 x 1.09 x 9.29 inches
• Best Sellers Rank: #3,926,195 in Books (See Top 100 in Books) #1,999 in Jewish Historical Fiction #4,438 in Jewish Literature & Fiction #41,602 in Family Life Fiction (Books)
• #1,999 in Jewish Historical Fiction
• #4,438 in Jewish Literature & Fiction