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    My Last Lament
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    My Last Lament
    Unavailable
    My Last Lament
    Audiobook12 hours

    My Last Lament

    Written by James William Brown

    Narrated by Tandy Cronyn

    3.5/5

    ()

    Currently unavailable

    Currently unavailable

    About this audiobook

    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.
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherPenguin Random House Audio
    Release dateApr 4, 2017
    ISBN9781524756307
    Unavailable
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    Reviews for My Last Lament

    3.5/5

    21 ratings9 reviews

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    • 3/5
      This book took so long to finish. The story was good but it was easy to put down and walk away. If you like reading WWII stories, this one is set in Greece which was different and interesting.
    • 3/5
      A pleasant historical fiction storyline set mainly in occupied and post-WWII Greece recollects the life of a professional lamenter, Aliki and the two people she counts as her family, Stelios and Takis. The strength of this story for me were the details of the Greek cultural practices against a turbulent and unpredictable time. Although there are some dramatic and twisty moments to keep the story moving at times the characters seemed a little too simplistic to me and bogged down the pace. I enjoyed the format of Aliki recording her life on cassette tapes as this connected the oral storytelling tradition that Aliki informs the readers of the puppet shows and dirge-poems regarding the deceased. This lovely story will appeal to fans of cultural history and WWII stories with a different twist.
    • 4/5
      Thanks to the publisher, Penguin Random House, via Bookreporter, for a copy in exchange for my honest opinion.To lament means to vocally express grief or regret. The protagonist, Aliki, who lives in Greece, is one of few people who still practice lamenting. She is asked by an ethnographer from the U.S. to record her laments on cassettes so the history of why and how Aliki does it will be preserved. While doing her recordings, Aliki gets sidetracked and tells us of her life as a child during WWII while living in Greece and on the island of Crete. There are disturbing flashbacks to Aliki's youth while she struggles to survive during WWII and then Greece's Civil War. Horrors of WWII are described in this historical fiction. I found the history of Greece's part in the War to be educational since I think mainly of Germany when WWII is mentioned. After reading The Nightingale by Kristin Hannah, I realized the part France had in the War as well.Aliki felt she had the obligation to care for the son of the woman who cared for her after she was orphaned no matter what actions he took. Mental illness was not recognized and just dealt with as though the person was bad or a criminal.I especially liked the segments on shadow theater (puppeteering) which added enjoyment to an otherwise sad novel. I feel this is well-written and informative. The characters seemed real to me. Mr. Brown writes with knowledge about Greece since he lived and taught there for 10 years. In his author's note, he gives us many reference books for anyone wishing more information on the craft of shadow theater, the art and practicing of lamenting, and the civil fighting in Greece. These references are a nice touch.
    • 4/5
      My Last LamentLament: "a formal expression of sorrow or mourning, especially in verse or song; an elegy or dirge."Aliki, wizened and dressed in black, is the last lamenting crone in a small village in northeast Greece.Aliki tells us "Actually I don't really compose them (laments).I seem to fall into kind of a state and they really compose themselves and just pour through me like a long sigh."p.1 My Last Lament--An American college student leaves cassettes and a request for Aliki to record this fading folk art.Aliki decides instead to concentrate on her haunting story of 3 children struggling to survive in post WW2 Greece.So,we're privy to the joys and tragedies of Aliki's personal life from the 1940's to present day.The present day holds not only a look at the art of lamenting but also the unfolding of secrets of the past.Copy received from Book Browse First Impressions.Thank you.
    • 4/5
      This book is written and delivered on sides of cassette tapes by Aliki as an old woman and on the tapes she tells the story from her childhood to present time.

      When she was young, Aliki witnessed her father's murder in Greece during WWII. She lamented the dead, the first time not knowing what was happening. After her father's death, Chrysoula, and her son, Takis, took Aliki in. Sophia and her son Stelios-- two Greek Jews were hidden in Chrysoula's "basement" from the Nazi's but a terrible incident happens and Sophia and Chrysoula are killed leaving the 3 youngsters alone to fend for themselves. The majority of this story is about the three of them just trying to survive after the war in Greece. Takis is a little nuts or maybe he is having visions. This is really a sad story and is just sad that things like this probably did happen to people in Greece after WWII. I'm always fascinated by things involving WWII and this is another angle I had no idea existed. Very interesting and I would like to learn more about Greece after the war.

      I received a free copy from NetGalley for an honest review.
    • 3/5
      This novel was well-written and had an interesting premise. However, it wasn't the story I was expecting. Reading the premise, I thought that the focus would be more on how Aliki became a lamenter and what it all means culturally, as lamenting is a process I am not familiar with and would love to read more about. Instead, this novel focused on how Greece was affected by the invasion of Nazi soldiers. Yes, this is a perspective I have not read about as of yet. But there was really nothing to make this novel stand out in my mind in comparison to every other novel on the same topic. The switch from the present time to the recounting of past memories was not always very clear; at times, I found it to be jarring when the switch happened and had to read the page over again to be clear. This wasn't a terrible book by any means, but it wasn't what I was expecting, and so it left me a bit disappointed. I would recommend this book for anyone wanting to read about the Nazi occupation of Greece. Because that is the main focus of the book. Not lamenting.

      I received this novel as an advanced copy from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
    • 4/5
      Set in modern Greece during WWII and after, the story of a woman, Aliki, and those close to her, in a small village and then after bearing the brutality of the Germans, wandering from her small village to Athens to Crete and back, told in her own words. She is the last of her kind: a professional lamenter at funerals, before the church service. Orphaned, she is taken in by a kind neighbor and her son. Harboring a Jewish mother and son, they are betrayed to the Nazis. Hiding in her "foster mother's" basement, the son entertains them with Karagöz shadow puppet plays. After atrocities in which the two woman are killed, the survivors band together and wander, using the puppet plays to eke out a living. On Crete, they find the guerrillas [ex-partisans] are just as cruel. Enthralling story, a different aspect of those years. I enjoyed learning something about the history of Greece in that period. Highly recommended.
    • 5/5
      Set during a difficult time in Greece’s history, Brown’s engrossing novel explores important questions about love, family, and what happens to our relationships and sense of self during times of strife and terror. It is about resilience and what kind of power individuals retain when they have very little power over their own lives. Aliki’s tale is full of humor and pathos, regret and understanding. Highly recommended.
    • 5/5
      This book was a true joy to read. It was beautifully written, with interesting characters and some little known Greek history. Being Jewish I have heard about the decimation of the Jews in Thessalonica and Rhodes. While the main character Aliki is not Jewish, another major character Stelios is. The book address what happened to the Jews and life on the islands after the Nazis were defeated. Alik, is the last professional lamenter – one who expresses grief – in her village. Lamenters were like mediums through whom the deceased’s life is expressed at wakes. Aliki was also frequently visited by the dead.The story – of her own life - is told by Aliki via cassette tapes she is recording for a Greek-American scholar who is doing research on lament practices. Aliki tells of life in her little village under German occupation. When young Aliki is left orphaned she is taken in by Chrysoula, her friend Takis’s mother. Chrysoula also provided shelter for a Jewish woman named Sophie and her son Stelios.Aliki, 17 years old, is caught in a love triangle involving her friend Takis (10 years old) and Stelios (nearer Aliki’s age). While young they all had to mature quickly, witnessing the execution of family members and other villagers. Like many countries in Europe, when WWII was over the survivors then had to deal with civil wars.A form of entertainment at the time was the shadow theatre. I knew shadow puppetry was an ancient form of storytelling and entertainment in China, but I was not aware that it was used in Europe. A bit of the history of this art is given early on in the book. Stelios is quite proficient in it.Aliki laments on the tragedies they lived through, the “what-if’s” that could have resulted in a totally different outcome, the ironies that of life, and the tarnishing of her home country.The book is slow reading but well worth it. I loved the characters and had an emotional investment in them. There was so much heartbreak, so many regrets, yet much courage.