Once We Were Here
A Novel
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4.7 • 25 Ratings
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- $12.99
Publisher Description
As World War II intrudes upon their home, three young friends risk everything for freedom, love, and a chance at a better life.
On October 28th, 1940, Mussolini provides Greek Prime Minister Ioannis Metaxas with an ultimatum: either allow Axis forces to occupy their country, or face war, and Greece's response is swift. "Oxi!" they say. "No!"
In a small village nestled against the radiant waters of the Aegean Sea, we find Alexei, the son of a local fisherman, and his best friend Costa, who were both born on the same night eighteen years earlier and have been like brothers ever since, though now, like all the other young men in their village and throughout Greece, they will leave their homes to bravely fight for their country.
But before they go, Alexei asks Philia, the girl that he's loved his entire life, to marry him, which sets into motion the events which will change the lives of these three and their family and friends forever, and begins an epic and unforgettable story of courage, survival, sacrifice, the strength of the human spirit, and of a love and friendship that will echo across time and generations.
A spellbinding novel and sweeping romance that performs the remarkable feat of creating action-packed scenes, characters that we care deeply about, and revealing in vivid detail the untold true story of how Greece helped the Allies to win World War II, Once We Were Here is an unforgettable tale that pays tribute to the brave men and women who fought and gave everything for their country, for each other, and for freedom.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Cosmos's action-packed if jingoistic debut celebrates the Greek resistance to the Axis invasion in WWII. Nineteen-year-old best friends Alexei and Costa enthusiastically volunteer to fight against the Italian invasion in 1940. After an unexpected victory, Costa leverages a war wound to pick up women until he falls in love, while Alexei marries childhood sweetheart Philia. After Germany launches an assault in 1941, the men return to the front and join the ragtag resistance following a crushing defeat. Back in Alexei and Costa's hometown of Agria, Philia and her father are forced to garrison a German commander, and residents strain under the slim rations allowed by the occupying forces. When Costa and Alexei return home, they hatch a scheme to avenge Agria by sabotaging a bridge, then flee to unconquered Athens that puts them in danger from the onslaught of encroaching Germans. The near escapes of the protagonists and sound effect-filled battle scenes ("Bang bang bang bang!"; "And then mortars from the Italians. Kaboom kaboom kaboom!!!") are exciting, but the only nuance in this depiction of robotically cruel Germans and valiant Greeks is a brief, belated moment of self-reflection from Alexei. Readers who don't mind black-and-white WWII adventures will enjoy this take on a lesser-known part of the war.
