The Thread - Victoria Hislop

THE THREAD

ISBN - 978-0-7553-7776-3
FIRST PUBLISHED - 2011
PAGES - 480
PUBLISHERS - Headline
BINDING - Paperback
GENRE - Literary Fiction
SOURCE - Publishers

AUTHOR - Victoria Hislop

BEST-SELLERS - The Island, The Return

SYNOPIS - Thessaloniki, 1917.

As Dimitri Komminos is born, fire devastates the thriving Greek city where Christians, Jews and Muslims live side by side. Five years later, Katerina Sarafoglou's home in Asia Minor is destroyed by the Turkish army. Losing her mother in the chaos, she flees across the sea to an unknown destination in Greece. Soon her life will become entwined with Dimitri's, and with the story of the city itself, as war, fear and persecution begin to divide its people.

Thessaloniki, 2007

A young Anglo-Greek hears his grandparent's life story for the first time and realizes he has a decision to make. For many decades, they looked after the memories and treasures of the people who were forced to leave. Should he become their next custodian and make this city his home?

FL Speak - The Thread is the story of a seamstress, her life during the two World Wars, her life during the Nazi invasion, her story of faith and courage in times of deepest grief and despair.

Thessaloniki is a town in Greece. The author makes it clear that although the characters are fictional, the occurrences around the town of Thessaloniki are true. The story revolves around Katerina, a small girl, who makes her way to the town of Thessaloniki, Greece after being rescued by a soldier during the war with the Turkish. During the mass fleeing of Christians from Smyrna, Katerina gets separated from her mother until a soldier rescues her and sends her on a boat which is taking refugees to Greece. Eugenia, a mother of two twin daughters, takes on Katerina as they make their way to Thessaloniki.

It is where they eventually sette even as Katerina's search for her mother continues. Katerina, still a young child of 12, meets Dimitri Komminos, a boy of her age who lives nearby. As they grow older, their social differences separates their childhood days. Dimitri joins college, much to the displeasure of his father, who wanted him to follow in his business footsteps. Soon, the Italians invade Greece and Dimitri joins the Greek Army. Even though they return victorious, peace is short lived.

Thessaloniki was once a beautiful town where Christians, Muslims and Jews all lived together in harmony. With the war with the Turkish, the Muslims fled the city for fear of reprisals among them. Things were still okay as Christian refugees made their way to the city. But the invasion of the Nazi's left a hollow in this once beautiful city. Katerina's neighbors, once well-loved and respected found themselves cornered before being promised a new life in distant Poland. That new life turned out to be gas chambers where they were mass slaughtered.

The Thread is more than just a book that depicts the brutality of the Germans. In fact, it has less of the German regime than most other books. This book is about the city of Thessaloniki and why it means so much to Dimitri and Katerina. This book is about finding hope in a city in the backdrop of war, poverty and rebellion. It is so much more than it depicts. A haunting story, a brilliant write.

My Rating - 5 stars

PRICE - INR 350/-