Thank you all for great suggestions. Eleni is already on my Kindle, as is his daughter's (Eleni Gage) book called North of Ithaca. This is the story of the daughter Eleni's return to her father's village. I also found on my bookshelf a book called The Olive Grove - travels to Greece by Katherine Kazilos...so I have somewhere to start. I will check out the other suggestions as I go...Many thanks again.

Sara Alexi's The Greek Village series is a light read.

I still can't read the chapter in Jon Mole's It's All Greek to Me about the dog and the whitewash without cracking up!

The Two Faces Of January by Patricia Highsmith is an excellent little thriller. Legantly contructed and yet as tough and taut as her very best novels. It's set in Athens, Crete and also Paris.
Highly recommended - and easily digestible whilst <i>en vacances</i>.

Dr D.

Well, more fun than reading, get the movie Never on Sunday and get that earworm of a theme song in your head!!

Not"novels", more travel memoir, but Patrick Leigh Fermor's well-known books ought to be considered:

Mani: Travels in the Southern Peloponnesse (1958)
Roumeli: Travels in Northern Greece (1966)

There is a short section on the autonomous, monastery-filled, Mt Athos peninsula in
"The Broken Road: From the Iron Gates to Mount Athos".
"Broken Road" is set in the 1930s; I haven't read it.

Thanks Gretchen. I had no idea Never on Sunday was from a movie set in Greece. It was my father's favourite song back in the 60s and brought back many memories just listening to it now on youtube. And you were right. I already can't get the song out of my head!

In addition to My Brother Michael (Delphi), Mary Stewart also wrote two additional novels (mysteries) set in Greece: The Moon Spinners (Corfu) and This Rough Magic (Crete). Helen MacInnes (also a mystery writer) has two books: Decision at Delphi and The Double Image (Mykonos).

Even though these books were written years ago, my granddaughter who is 18 loved reading them.

I have just finished reading Eleni and must say another thank you to all who recommended it. I found it absolutely fascinating and couldn't put it down. Now I have to decide what comes next, after so many great suggestions...

To the fine "My Brother Michael" add another great by the same author, "This Rough Magic." Near the end is an unforgettable line.

I always consult Book Lust to Go by Nancy Pearl for every trip. She is a librarian who wrote this book which recommends reading for 120 destinations. She lists fiction and nonfiction and gives a small description of the title. Great fun for travel reading!

"Athens - The Truth: Searching for Manos, Just Before the Bubble Burst" by David Cade.

Not a novel but it often has the movement of one. I found it gripping. The author searches Athens for the music of Theodorakis and Hadjidakis but discovers a great deal more. There are fascinating insights in every chapter. Very topical, sometimes controversial, very up-to-date, and probably closest to Patrica Storace and Leigh Fermor. And don't judge it by its very classical cover! The contents are often otherwise! The best book I've read on Athens to date.

Ela - A Greek affair: Author: Michael Saunders and his wife Pauline at their home in Lower Afrata, Crete, 2000. They finally realised their dream and took up permanent residence early in 2002. This is a good read esp. if you are in Crete. It is an easy day trip from Hania, Crete.
Also, Dancing Girl by Thordis Simonsen; I agree with above: Eurydice Street, a place in Athens by Sofka Zinovieff & Dinner with Persephone. I think I recall the Tom Stone novel & one by James Chatto. Unfortunetely before e-books, I would buy them & leave them in hotel rooms rather than carry them home.

bookmarking

Came across this one ......... Greece : a traveler's literary companion / edited by Artemis Leontis.
Short stories from Greek writers. How good is it to travel with short stories so that the inevitable changes don't lead to losing the plot so easily?

The Iliad is not a bad yarn. Ditto the Odyssey. Maybe a bit dated ...

Again contemporary but with more twists and turns than a Greek island, try An island fit for horses, by Michael P Ashton. Gives you a great flavor of Ithaca.

This is an old thread, but it came up in a search so I guess it's still relevant, though many of the books aren't available in Ebooks.

I just discovered Jeffrey Sigers 6 detective mysteries starting with Murder in Mykonos ($.99 in Kindle store). He does a brilliant job of setting, and each of the mysteries is tied to some interesting item of Greek culture or history. His portrayal of Greek culture, attitudes, and contemporary Greece., including refugees, is vivid. Some of the situations seem a bit thin, but, it is a fiction. All books were very enjoyable.

bookmarking