A novel titled “Krisanthi’s War: In Hitler’s Greece” chronicles the life of three women who must band together to survive the Nazi German occupation of Athens and the island of Rhodes during World War II.
Written by author Ida Rae Egli, the book is an antiwar epic that brings together the personal and the political and wanders back and forth from the 1930s to the 1980s.
The war takes the three women to near starvation and exposes them to unimaginable violence, but at the same time it shows them romantic love, childbirth, village humor and the bravery of local resistance fighters.
By working together the women have a chance of surviving the war; but the costs to themselves, their families and to Greece are high.
The book’s characters have names such as Achilles, Penelope and Kalliope. And, since they’re Greeks, the Trojan War isn’t ancient history, but rather part of the living, breathing present.
“Krisanthi’s War” is full of the sights and smells of olives, goats, blood and wine, even as it explores the nature of Orthodoxy and mystery.
The novel is inspired by true stories from years of interviewing Greek WWII survivors.
Click here to purchase the book
Praise for “Krisanthi’s War:”
“In lucid lyrical prose, Egli gives us the terror and the pity of Nazi-occupied Greece, but more than that: through the stories of three women, she dramatizes the dignity of the human spirit amid the degradation of occupation; the courage of passion and compassion in a dehumanized world, and transcendence in spite of great loss. This is the wisdom she celebrates set against the horrors of war.” – James Tipton, bestselling author of “Annette Vallon: A Novel of the French Revolution”
“When I first read Ida Rae Egli’s novel of Greece in the time of Hitler, I was drawn in immediately and knew it was a masterpiece of the highest order.” – Neal Metcalf, author of “The Pure Gamble” and “Loving Lady Chatterley”
“Krisanthi’s War: In Hitler’s Greece” is available in paperback through The Pappas Post Bookshop. The book is also available in paperback and Kindle via Amazon and at McCaaBooks and local bookstores.
About the author
Ida Rae Egli is a writer, editor, and English instructor at Santa Rosa Junior College. She lives in Sonoma County, CA with her Greek historian husband, Kosta P’manolis, and other family. Her first two books focus on early California literary history: No Rooms of Their Own: Women Writers of Early California, and Gold Rush Women: Frances Fuller Victor (HeydayBooks.com). For more information, visit her website. Egli can be found on social media platforms including Facebook, Instagram (@idaraeegli), Twitter (@idaraeegli) and YouTube. She also has an Amazon author’s page.