The Girl Under the Olive Tree by Leah Fleming

The Girl Under the Olive Tree by Leah Fleming

May1941 and the island of Crete is invaded by paratroopers from the air. After a lengthy fight, thousands of British and Commonwealth soldiers are forced to take to the hills or become escaping PoWs, sheltered by the Cretan villagers. Sixty years later, Lois West and her young son, Alex, invite feisty Great Aunt Pen to a special eighty-fifth birthday celebration on Crete, knowing she has not been back there since the war. Penelope George – formerly Giorgidiou – is reluctant to go but is persuaded by the fact it is the 60th anniversary of the Battle. It is time for her to return and make the journey she never thought she’d dare to. On the outward voyage from Athens, she relives her experiences in the city from her early years as a trainee nurse to those last dark days stranded on the island, the last female foreigner. When word spreads of her visit, and old Cretan friends and family come to greet her, Lois and Alex are caught up in her epic pilgrimage and the journey which leads her to a reunion with the friend she thought she had lost forever – and the truth behind a secret buried deep in the past…

Check it out!
Pantheon: An Illustrated Handbook to the Greek Gods & Goddesses Take a Chance on Greece by Sue Roberts Greek Plays: Sixteen Plays by Aeschylus, Sophocles, and Euripides As Greek as it Gets: A fun, feel-good romantic comedy by Sue Roberts The Last Song of Penelope by Claire North STRONGHOLD: Four Seasons in the White Mountains of Crete

You might also like

Here you will find all our weekly book recommendations we include in our newsletters – books you might like to read either before you come and visit, or whilst you are here on holiday.

Check them out!