Arrested Song: Media
Ottawa Review of Books | November 2025
Review by Ian Thomas Shaw
Irena Karafilly’s Arrested Song takes readers on a compelling journey through contemporary Greek history, as seen through the life of Calliope Adham, a woman striving to shatter the constraints of Greek patriarchy on the island of Lesbos. Unlike many feminist novels in Canadian literature, which often steer clear of political entanglements, this novel boldly immerses itself in the fraught political landscape of 20th-century Greece. Karafilly spares neither the right nor the left dismantling simplistic narratives of heroes and villains in a nation twice enduring military occupation—first by foreign forces, then by its generals. Yet, beyond its political dimension, Arrested Song beautifully evokes the vanished world of small-town Greece, a world still lovingly preserved in the collective memory of its people.
Read the full review in The Ottawa Review of Books
Interview with Irena Karafilly, Award-Winning Author of Historical Greek Novel | July 8, 2025
By Peter Barber
PB: Arrested Song is a real page-turner, but writing a historical novel that starts with the Albanian War and ends with the fall of the Junta must have been a challenging project. What made you want to do it?
“I was, initially, just interested in the story of a village woman rumoured to have collaborated with the Germans during the Occupation. But this woman had lived through all the historic events of the 20th century, so I quickly realized that her story was inextricable from the story of her nation. Talking to non-Greeks, I discovered that most people knew very little about modern Greek history, so one of the things I wanted to do was tell the story of Greeks’ suffering throughout the 20th century.”
Read the full interview in the Pappas Post
Irena Karafilly’s Compelling Novel, Arrested Song | June 4, 2023
By Eleni Sakellis
Historical fiction often highlights historic events and characters in a dynamic way, allowing readers to experience the past through the characters and the choices they make in the course of their journey through the book. Arrested Song by Irena Karafilly brings history to life with strong characters, detailed descriptions, and a compelling plot in this page-turner which opens in a village on the Greek island of Lesvos during World War II.
Read the full review on The National Herald
Βook of the Month: ‘Arrested Song’ by Irena Karafilly | June 20, 2023
Set in the northeastern Aegean island of Lesvos, in the picturesque village of Molyvos, from 1941 to 1974, during some of the most dire decades of the 20th century, Arrested Song depicts the turbulent life of Calliope Adham.
Read the full article on Greek News Agenda
The Writing Of Arrested Song | May 27, 2023
On The Table Read Magazine, “the best book magazine in the UK“, Irena Karafilly writes about the inspiration behind her new book, Arrested Song, and her creative writing process.
Read the full article at thetablereadmagazine.co.uk
Table Read Magazine | May 20, 2023
Author Interview by JJ Barnes
I interviewed Irena Karafilly about her life and career, what inspired her to start writing, and the story of her latest novel, Arrested Song.
Read the full interview at thetablereadmagazine.co.uk
Authorlink® | March 28, 2023
Author Interview by Anna Roins
ARRESTED SONG is everything: the mundanity of Greek village life, a WW2 story of occupation, resistance, espionage, and survival. It’s a love story many times over, and it is a journey of self-discovery and purpose in the face of change and encroaching modernity. It is a saga. Readers of historical fiction will love the breadth and depth Irena Karafilly has articulated in this 400-page story. Her vivid, evocative writing was next only to visiting the actual Greek island.
Read the full interview at Authorlink.com
Athens Insider | March 8, 2023
Diana Farr-Louis interviews Irena Karafilly, author of Arrested Song.
“It isn’t often that one reads a novel one can’t put down. It’s even rarer to want to read it again almost immediately because it is so rich and rewarding, its intriguing characters evolving and interacting over more than three decades of turbulent Greek history. It is rarer still to be able to meet and talk to the author. Irena Karafilly has become my newest favorite novelist, earning a place alongside Louise Erdrich, Elif Shafak, and Barbara Kingsolver. The more I read her, the more I marvelled at her imagination, language, portraits, plots, and ability to weave all the strands into an epic, thought-provoking saga that kept me turning pages long after I should have turned off the light.”
Read the full interview at Athens Insider
Writing.ie | March 20, 2023
“What an amazing achievement!” my literary agent pronounced. “I love it. Only I can’t possibly sell a Greek War and Peace in this day and age!”