An epic masterpiece that captures the humour, tragedy and brutality of the inhabitants of a village caught up in the Turkish and Greek wars. I enjoyed the humorous observations, anecdotes and profound metaphors in the fictional narrative of the Muslims and Christians. These individual chapters outline the harmonious religious and cultural tolerances of a number of colourful local villagers,and later their subsequent distrust, sufferings and loss. I did find the interwoven chapters on Mustafa Kemel (founder of modern Turkey) challenging as they read more like a biographical non-fiction account of the Fall of the Ottoman Empire. On the whole the novel is well worth the read, if you have the time to give to its 640 pages.
