Arrested Song

Winner of The Paragraphe Hugh MacLennan Prize for Fiction.

"Arrested Song is a haunting, sumptuous novel, weaving the private and the historic into a vivid tapestry of Greek island life." -- The Quebec Writers Association

'A very accomplished novel' Louis de Bernieres, author, Captain Corelli's Mandolin

'Hard to put this book down' Sofka Zinovieff

'An epic, page turning story, of longing and bravery... a must read' Nadia Marks

Calliope is a young schoolmistress in the village of Molyvos when Hitler's army invades Greece in 1941. Recruited by the Germans to act as their liaison officer, Calliope's wartime duties bring her into close contact with Lieutenant Lorenz Umbreit, the Wehrmacht commander. In a fishing village seething with dread and suspicion, their intimacy begins to blossom. But as an active member of the Greek Resistance, how long can their relationship last?

Spanning over three decades, it chronicles the story of an extraordinary woman and her lifelong struggle against tyranny.

Irena Karafilly is an award-winning writer and poet and the author of several acclaimed books as well as numerous stories, poems and articles published in both literary and mainstream magazines and newspapers including the New York Times and the International Herald Tribune. She was born in Russia, educated in Canada and currently divides her time between Montreal and Athens.