A review by martydah
The Green Shore by Natalie Bakopoulos

5.0

Before I picked this book up, I had little idea of the turbulence that swept through Greece during the late 60's to the late 70's. The story begins on the night of the military coup and recounts the experiences of three women and one man, all from the same family. Sophie, Anna, their mother Eleni and her brother Mihalis. Each resists the junta's oppressive regime in their own ways. Sophie and her left-leaning boyfriend commit secretive acts of rebellion until he is arrested and she flees to France. Eleni, a doctor, becomes involved in running an underground clinic for victims of torture - an act that could easily mean torture and imprisonment for herself. Mihalis, a radical poet, at first retreats from public life, but find that he can't be silent and disengaged after all. Anna, the youngest child, becomes embroiled in a stormy student protest toward the end of the regime's tenure that nearly costs her her life. This book does an excellent job of recreating the tension and fear that ran underneath the semblance of normal life and the fine line between survival and protest that each character must walk.