The Green Shore

Written by Natalie Bakopoulos

Narrated by Robin Miles

An award-winning author of short fiction, Natalie Bakopoulos presents her debut novel, The Green Shore, which chronicles the lives of four family members trying to survive under Greece's military dictatorship in the late 1960s. Deep in the night on April 21, 1967, a group of colonels engineer a coup d'Etat, overthrowing the Greek government. In the midst of this chaotic upheaval, student Sophie, her mother Eleni, her uncle Mihalis, and her younger sister Anna struggle with changes to their own family dynamic as well as the fraying fabric of their country.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Recorded Books, Inc.
• Release date: Jun 29, 2012
• ISBN: 9781464048746

Natalie Bakopoulos

Natalie Bakopoulos is the author of the novels Scorpionfish (Tin House, 2020) and The Green Shore (Simon & Schuster, 2012), and her work has appeared in Tin House, VQR, The Iowa Review, The New York Times, Granta, Ploughshares, Kenyon Review, Mississippi Review, O. Henry Prize Stories, and other publications. She's an assistant professor of creative writing at Wayne State University and a faculty member of the summer program Writing Workshops in Greece.

Reviews for The Green Shore

[ixachel · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

The Green Shore, by Natalie Bakopoulos, is the story of a family living through the Greek military junta of 1967-1974. While most of the country sleeps, Greece suddenly changes. A group of colonels stage a coup d’etat and seize control of government. Eleni and Mihalis, Anna and Sophie, now live in a very different world. At the start of this novel, it seems to me that Mihalis, a poet and past revolutionary, struggles with how to react. A part of him wants to act out against the dictators, while the rest of him is tired and justs want to reconcile with his wife. He recognizes the need for action, but feels he has done his part in the past. His niece, Sophie, is radical and ready. She believes in the cause but wants dearly to impress her uncle and boyfriend. The resistance seems to be a stage for her, and a movement only second. Sophie’s sister Anna is a shy, withdrawn, and sullen child. As a third child, she feels herself lacking in identity and importance. Eleni, Sophie and Anna’s mother, has a family and despite her past with politics, must put them first. Widowed, she has lost control of her children and has to reconcile what they want with what she expects.This is very much a character driven novel. There is a semblance of a plot, sure, but it’s certainly not the feature. The political turmoil is a mostly a backdrop in the family drama, only occasionally propelling them forward. Each person's mindset and emotions are explored. Their past, their fears, their desires. We learn so much about these four main characters that is impossible to not relate to them, to not identify with them in some way. They want what we all want: to be rid of oppression, to love freely, to be happy. We all want to leave behind the best world possible for future generations.Each character also experiences tremendous growth. The dormant are pulled into action, the overzealous lulled into more subdued protest. Mihalis and Eleni move from what they seem to have accepted to what they know is right. Sophie grows from her days as a kid playing at politics. Anna is, perhaps, the most transformed. She sheds her childish cloak of insecurities and becomes an empowered young woman. Greece, as a backdrop, is wonderfully described. From Athens, to the islands; the shared home in Halandri, to the secret places the characters keep to themselves. The reader can feel like they are moving alongside each character. We are lounging with Mihalis in Kifissia, traveling with Anna to Hydra. And, as we escape with Sophie, Paris springs to life. Don’t go into this novel expecting a fast paced, action packed plot. This isn’t that kind of book. It is for those seeking a story to connect with, something to contemplate. It is beautifully written, riddled with standout passages. I’d quote from it, but I have and advance reader copy won through Goodreads.