Author- Marjory McGinn
Publisher-Pelagos Press
Format- Kindle Edition
Pages- 288
Rating- 4/5
Summary- It was 2010 when Britain was going through recession and witnessing the coldest winter in decades. The recession had an effect on the newspaper industry as well which made journalist and author Marjory McGinn and her partner Jim Bruce (also journalist) decide to escape Britain and go on an adventure to the rural region of Mani peninsula in the Southern Peloponnese accompanied by their crazy dog Wallace. However, at that time, Greece was going through its own economic crisis. This book is the first part of the Peloponnese series where the author shares her experience of the first year of their adventure. Here she hilariously talks about her struggle while learning the Greek language, her coping with the lifestyle of the Greeks and also their traditions and beliefs. She also addresses the effects of the crumbling economy on the people.
Review- In this book, the author captures the picturesque Greece and its people so beautifully with her words that it will make you want to pay a visit there at least once. She has done a great job in bringing out the essence of each season in rural Greece by describing in detail about the various traditions and activities associated with it like sun bathing on the beach in summer, olive harvesting before the onset of winter and Easter celebration (their most important festival) in the spring season. The book will give the reader ample opportunities to laugh out loud because of the author's amazing sense of humour in describing the driving style of Greeks, her trying of Greek cuisine, fighting with scorpions inside her house, activities of her dog Wallace or her visit to a Greek dentist. However she also throws light on grave issues like the effect of the economic crisis on the general people and on the expats.
Through this book one will clearly understand the author's love and passion for the country. Her interest in learning the Greek language and blending with the locals by participating in their functions, in contrast to most of the expats in that region, made her stand out amongst them. Her love for animals is evident from the way she cares for Wallace. In this book, Foteini, a Greek farmer in her sixties, deserves special mention as starting from the first chapter she appears recurringly throughout the book. In fact, she was the one who convinced the author to settle down in the Megali Mantineia village when they first arrived in Greece. Eventually both of them became friends even though they were different from each other in so many ways. The humble and good nature of the Greeks will definitely melt your heart which made the author aptly say that even though Greece does not have euros, it definitely has heroes.
This was definitely a delightful read for me and I am looking forward to reading the other books in the series. Though this book is a memoir, it will make you feel like you are reading a fiction. So you are into fiction or non-fiction, you must defintely check out this book.
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