In 1954 the Australian writers Charmian Clift and George Johnston left grey, post- war London for Greece. Moving first to the tiny island of Kalymnos they then settled on Hydra and stayed for almost a decade.They bought a picturesque, dilapidated house and Charmian grappled with the chaos of domestic life, the arrival of a third child and the clash of cultures. On Hydra they became the centre of an informal bohemian community of artists and writers which later included Leonard Cohen.A travel writing classic, available for the first time in 20 years. With a new introduction by Polly Samson this is the companion volume to Mermaid Singing.Charmian Clift was born in New South Wales, Australia in 1923. She became a journalist on the Melbourne Argus after World War II and in 1947 married novelist and journalist George Johnston.Early in their marriage they collaborated on three novels: the prizewinning High Valley, The Big Chariot and the Sponge Divers. Then in 1954, having lived in London for a few years, they took their family to live in the Greek Islands. During the period Charmian wrote two accounts of their life there, Mermaid Singing and Peel Me a Lotus, and two novels, Honour’s Mimic and Walk to the Paradise Gardens.In 1964 the family returned to Australia and Charmian began a weekly newspaper column which quickly gained her a wide and devoted readership. She died in 1969.Polly Samson is an author, lyricist and Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature. Her most recent novel, the bestselling A Theatre for Dreamers, features Charmian Clift as one of the central characters
