In this first novel, Harrison shows strength in storytelling. She dramatizes brutality with restraint and convincingly depicts Theo as an innocent child scarred but not corrupted by the evil around him. The lesson Theo learns, according to critic Roger Leslie— heroism is "about good, about regret, even sadness at what one may be forced to do"— is conveyed with poignancy and conviction. Harrison plays with literary techniques and styles and entwines them within her novel in such an ingenious manner, that even if the plot does not have the qualities that a reader would like, the narrative and literary techniques themselves shall keep the reader enraptured.

Theo begins with a poem. The poem, which tells of the creation of Greece by God, is the first hint of Harrison's foreshadowing technique. Through this poem, the reader is prepared for the hardiness, stubbornness and strength not...