The Thread

I've been putting off reading Victoria Hislop's novel the Thread for some time now, it's been a number of years since I read and loved her first novel The Island but her second book The Return had been a little heavy on history for my liking and had jaded my view of her writing which has taken me some time to recover from. However at the urging of my mum that The Thread was a triumphant return to form for Hislop I decided I'd give it a try.

Beginning in modern day Thessaloniki, Greece we meet a young Anglo-Greek man who is spending the summer with his grandparents Katerina and Dimitri as he has many years before, on this occasion though he questions why they remain in Thessaloniki when they could move abroad and live closer to family. In response his grandparents sit him down in their home and begin to tell their stories and the history of the people of Thessaloniki.

Spanning from the years of the first world war including a huge fire in 1917 which nearly wiped out the city of Thessaloniki we move through years of political unrest and uncertainty into the occupation of Greece during the second world war and the destruction of the Jewish population of the city as they were deported by the Nazi's to concentration camps in Poland. Through the post war years and the battle for political supremacy as the Communists battled to try and enter government and bitter civil wars to the massive earthquake which again devastated the city in 1978.

This novel contains a great deal of Greek history however the way in which it is told in The Thread is beautiful, it's the story of the residents of Thessaloniki. Katerina the young refugee who lands in the city by boat with her adoptive mother Eugenia after having to flee her home in Smyrna. Torn apart from her birth mother she is in a strange county and with no home or belongings she forms a strong bond with the woman who has taken her in and their growing love is a wonderful backdrop to the events in this part of the book.

In contrast we also are told the story through the eyes of Olga, Dimitri's mother and as he grows through the eyes of Dimitri also. His wealthy father runs a textiles business providing cloth to the tailors and dressmakers of Greece and his ongoing obsession with his business tears this family in two. Olga is a gentle and loving mother who in the years following the fire in Thessaloniki moves with her baby son and housekeeper into the same street as Katerina and her adoptive mother and it is here that friendship and love grow for the two.

Whilst these central characters hold the book together there are so many more that are left etched on my mind after reading this book, the Moreno family are haunting representations of the persecution of Greek Jews during the time of the second world war. Wealthy tailors who ran their own business employing gifted tailors and seamstresses they throw their wealth into providing comfort and security for their employees and building a stalwart reputation for quality. That is until the occupation of Greece by the Nazi's and their business and home are torn from them and they are transported by train for a ‘new life' in Poland.

Hislop has crafted a story of community in The Thread, a tale of people struggling to overcome the adversity the outside world is having on their small, close knit friendships and relationships. People are torn from Irini Street and cast out due to events outwith their control. People arrive in the street, again because of political strift but the one thing that remains is the warmth of the occupants within the houses.

And that is why across all of the voices in this book the main character remains the city itself, the way it seems to pick itself up from whatever destructive force is thrown at it and carries on. The ending of the book, where Katerina and Dimitri's grandchild decides that he too may make his future in Thessaloniki, forever preserving and caring for the important religious treasures they have acquired over the years is a sign of hope for the city's future, a sign that the city will continue to change and grow as the years go by but what will not be forgotten is the important sacrifices and strength of people that has held it together through the years.

I loved this book, it is worth every single one of the 5 stars I have given it in this review and I now feel it will not be nearly so long till I read another Victoria Hislop book again.