Review | ‘MY LAST LAMENT’

Covering Greece's Nazi occupation and the years after the war, 'My Last Lament,” set to be released Friday, tells the story of one woman's journey as she records her story for a researcher relieving some of the most heartbreaking moments in her life. Hoping to discover a new perspective, learn a bit more about World War II while connecting with a new culture affected by the war, I dived into 'My Last Lament” headfirst.

Unfortunately it attempts to cover too much ground in its 350 or so pages. It hits every World War II trope possible while doing little to explain the Greek Culture, the Nazi Occupation of Greece and the volatile years of changing political powers in the months and years the followed. As a result, this story could have been set in just about any country the Axis powers occupied during this time frame in history.

What kept me reading? Something happened one night that tore a small Greek village apart. I needed to know what really happened and who was responsible. Brown teases the mystery throughout, unfortunately, because of the breadth of the story and the lack of threading of one seemingly minor character's story through out the narrative, the reveal is lackluster, leaving me disappointed.

'My Last Lament” was a plodding read. Aliki's story was not unique and the failure to connect all the characters sufficiently left me feeling a lack of connection to the story, time period and the struggles experienced.