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Mermaid Singing & Peel Me a Lotus
Two classic travel works by Charmian Clift describing the life she and her Australian family led in Greece in the 1950's in one volume. For Charmian Clift, Greece was the Promised Land. In 1954 she and her husband, George Johnston, abandoned their sophisticated London existence and set off with two new typewriters and two small children to start a new life. In Mermaid Singing - written during the first miraculous year of discovery - she records the family's adaptation to the primitive sponge-diving island of Kalymnos. Peel Me a Lotus continues the exploration as Clift and Johnson buy a house on the island of Hydra, in the middle of the summer tourist trail. Clift's writing about Greece was undervalued at the time of first publication, because she wrote from a women's point of view and recorded the intimate details of daily life. It is exactly this quality which enables this classic to appeal to a new generation of readers.
- GenresGreeceNonfictionTravel
464 pages, Kindle Edition
First published January 1, 2001
87 people are currently reading
368 people want to read
About the author
Charmian Clift
19 books55 followersCharmian Clift was an Australian writer and essayist during the mid 20th century. She was the second wife and literary collaborator of George Johnston.
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Displaying 1 - 22 of 22 reviews
May 7, 2022
My initial response after reading twenty-five percent of the book was this: Clift's writing is excellent but I seem to have far less interest in the rudimentary lives of the people of Kalymnos than she does. I am not a fan of folk dancing. I don't find the rowdy, drunken conversations of the local men fascinating. The many stories about how the islanders of the 1950s respond to the oddities of the Brits are really rather sad and not all that funny. I don't find Clift very likeable.
Those comments still stand, but here's the rest of my review upon finishing the book, which I nearly cast aside. I admitted earlier to being a moody reader, which means I sometimes change my mind about a book that I have dismissed previously. Usually, I know I've been in error when the book continues to talk to me even though it's been stripped of its bookmark and returned to my shelves. I may be mercurial but I am not indifferent to writers whose voices haunt me. I figure they must have something of value to say, but that I was too impatient to listen closely the first time around.
Even after resuming my reading, it took me a long while to sort through my responses to Clift's first-person essays. These two books, joined in one volume, are about the decade (1954-1964) she spent living in Greece with her husband, George, and their three children. During this period, Clift wrote and published, on her own and with George, and did her best to live happily and inexpensively with her family in a beautiful and healthy environment. While reading this, it felt as if Clift were right there with me―or, rather, as if I were right there with her―chatting and laughing across a Grecian cafe table on a hot summer's day: The sun is so bright reflecting off the white houses that we have to wear dark glasses and hats pulled down over our eyes to bear it. The wine is white and very cold. A pack of laughing children run past, half naked, heading to the sea. The air smells of salt, fresh-baked bread, sweat, and donkeys. I toss bits of fish to feral cats and wish I'd remembered my camera because Charm is looking especially charming just now. I also want to adopt all of the cats, who are hated and maltreated by the locals and whose desperate state saddens and sickens me.
Charmian Clift is a very vivid, evocative, and potent writer. She's also very intelligent and can be truly funny. That said, I am not sure I would have wanted her as a friend.
Memoirs are personal, even while readers are aware they are only getting the choicest bits selected from a full platter, so we do not have the aesthetic distance from the writer that we have when reading novels. Knowing this, I tend to read memoirs of people whom I already know a lot about through admiring their work in other forms: a good example of one I've enjoyed without reservations is Haruki Murakami's What I Talk About When I Talk About Running.
Unlike my long history of reading Murakami's novels before diving into his memoir about running, I knew very little about Clift when I bought this book, which was recommended to me by a friend. The chapter topics vary a great deal. Some sections were utterly captivating and/ or highly entertaining, while others just bored me and I found myself looking forward to the next chapter. Overall, though, it's very good writing and worth a read if you are interested in ex-pat artist communities, Greece in the 1950s, and/or Charmian Clift and her husband, George.
I was very much taken by Clift's descriptive prose on the beauty of the islands, which during some seasons is a lush and abundant mother, and during others mercilessly dry, barren, harsh, and only barely survivable. Here are a couple of examples of what I loved best in the book:
I also appreciated very much her reflections on what it takes to be a genuine artist rather than a mere dilettante. Clift's comments here are about the thirty-something nomadic bohemian males who lounge about the island calling themselves "artists" but producing nothing, and how different they are from her friend "Henry" (in reality Australian painter Sidney Nolan):
Those comments still stand, but here's the rest of my review upon finishing the book, which I nearly cast aside. I admitted earlier to being a moody reader, which means I sometimes change my mind about a book that I have dismissed previously. Usually, I know I've been in error when the book continues to talk to me even though it's been stripped of its bookmark and returned to my shelves. I may be mercurial but I am not indifferent to writers whose voices haunt me. I figure they must have something of value to say, but that I was too impatient to listen closely the first time around.
Even after resuming my reading, it took me a long while to sort through my responses to Clift's first-person essays. These two books, joined in one volume, are about the decade (1954-1964) she spent living in Greece with her husband, George, and their three children. During this period, Clift wrote and published, on her own and with George, and did her best to live happily and inexpensively with her family in a beautiful and healthy environment. While reading this, it felt as if Clift were right there with me―or, rather, as if I were right there with her―chatting and laughing across a Grecian cafe table on a hot summer's day: The sun is so bright reflecting off the white houses that we have to wear dark glasses and hats pulled down over our eyes to bear it. The wine is white and very cold. A pack of laughing children run past, half naked, heading to the sea. The air smells of salt, fresh-baked bread, sweat, and donkeys. I toss bits of fish to feral cats and wish I'd remembered my camera because Charm is looking especially charming just now. I also want to adopt all of the cats, who are hated and maltreated by the locals and whose desperate state saddens and sickens me.
Charmian Clift is a very vivid, evocative, and potent writer. She's also very intelligent and can be truly funny. That said, I am not sure I would have wanted her as a friend.
Memoirs are personal, even while readers are aware they are only getting the choicest bits selected from a full platter, so we do not have the aesthetic distance from the writer that we have when reading novels. Knowing this, I tend to read memoirs of people whom I already know a lot about through admiring their work in other forms: a good example of one I've enjoyed without reservations is Haruki Murakami's What I Talk About When I Talk About Running.
Unlike my long history of reading Murakami's novels before diving into his memoir about running, I knew very little about Clift when I bought this book, which was recommended to me by a friend. The chapter topics vary a great deal. Some sections were utterly captivating and/ or highly entertaining, while others just bored me and I found myself looking forward to the next chapter. Overall, though, it's very good writing and worth a read if you are interested in ex-pat artist communities, Greece in the 1950s, and/or Charmian Clift and her husband, George.
I was very much taken by Clift's descriptive prose on the beauty of the islands, which during some seasons is a lush and abundant mother, and during others mercilessly dry, barren, harsh, and only barely survivable. Here are a couple of examples of what I loved best in the book:
the high places
The high places have an awful, harsh beauty of their own, compounded of light and silence and the grim, enduring rock. There are no soft outlines, no shady places. These mountains are still and naked and terrible, not so much rejecting life as indifferent to it. For life has established a foothold even here.
night swims
At night the water slides over your body warm and silky, a mysterious element, unresistant, flowing, yet incredibly buoyant. In the dark you slip through it, unquestionably accepting the night's mood of grace and silence, a little drugged with wine, a little spellbound with the night, your body mysterious and pale and silent in the mysterious water, and at your slowly moving feet and hands streaming trails of phosphorescence, like streaming trails of stars. Still streaming stars you climb the dark ladder to the dark rock, shaking showers of stars from your very fingertips, most marvellously and mysteriously renewed and whole again.
I also appreciated very much her reflections on what it takes to be a genuine artist rather than a mere dilettante. Clift's comments here are about the thirty-something nomadic bohemian males who lounge about the island calling themselves "artists" but producing nothing, and how different they are from her friend "Henry" (in reality Australian painter Sidney Nolan):
Thinking of them―and it is impossible not to think of them a good deal―with their tired faces, their fruitless journeyings, their vicarious pleasures, their ersatz culture, their endless self-delusions, one cannot help but contrast them with Henry, who started out on his own nomadic trail at about the same time as they did, with probably an equal amount of talent. Henry never had time to learn perfect French nor to acquire a European polish. He was too busy painting, all his energies engaged on the thing he had to say, on proving his passionate belief that you can fly for the willing of it.
To accomplish anything it is obvious that a talent is not enough. You need a motive, an aim, an incentive, an overwhelming interest―be it ambition or fear or curiosity or only the necessity to fill your belly. You need a star to steer by, a cause, a creed, an idea, a passionate attachment. Something must beckon you or nothing is done―something about which you ask no questions.
As if in answer to this thought there is a letter from Henry, scribbled in reply to one of ours that must have conveyed all too clearly our misgivings, our mood of hesitation and incapacity. The message of it comes singing and clear, unequivocal, untinged by doubt. Go on then, fly!
April 27, 2022
George Johnston and Charmian Clift https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charmia... were Australian writers who left Australia for London and then, tiring of grey skies, dreary weather and no space, decided to go to Greece, live on an island and write for their livings. This was 1954, before the floods of tourists had 'discovered' Greece.
Their first choice was Kalymnos, where they rented a house for a time, and then they moved to Hydra, where they bought a house and lived for several years, becoming the centre of a collection of expatriate writers and artists. Polly Samson has written a brilliant novel of the lives of the Clift/Johnston family and community A Theatre for Dreamers on Hydra, and takes their story beyond their eventual departure and return to Australia in 1964 where both resumed careers as journalists and wrote books.
I enjoyed Samson's book so much that I decided I should read Charmian Clift's own two books that she wrote about their time on the Islands.
Life living on royalties from writing was never going to be easy of course. Through Clift's books we see the shift in her views from romantic-if-appalled foreigner, grappling to come to terms with how to get things done, enjoying life by the sea and in the sun, children running free to fear that the burden of poverty would never lift, feeling that while six months living poorly was an experience, potentially years of never having enough money was a different proposition.
Her first book Mermaid Singing is set solely in Kalymnos, the second Peel Me A Lotus is in Hydra. There is a gap between the two and the second one ends well before they leave so it's far from a complete story.
I found myself increasingly engaged with her writing as she moved from travelogue mode to thoughtful comment on the world they now lived in, and some wonderfully observed cultural practices like the Lenten fasts endured by the women in particular and the great celebrations surrounding Easter. At this stage, most of the men in Hydra earned their living by sponge fishing off the coast of north Africa. This meant that they were away from home for seven months of the year and had little to do for the five months they were home except to hang out at the cafes and bars and implant more children in their wives.
Each year several men were crippled by bends for life. I hadn't realised before that 'bends' actually crippled men's limbs. Each year too, men died from diving.
She wrote some shatteringly cruel things about people who regarded themselves as friends, and her resentments at having to put her own writing on hold while she ran a household and feed the masses (three children, multiple visitors, hangers on, no running water) began to emerge more strongly towards the end of Lotus. But still she loved the island life and they stayed several more years after the period of the books.
I'm glad I read them, glad I continued past the travelogue phase. Im also glad that I had read Polly Samson's beautifully researched and sensitively imagined novel first.
Their first choice was Kalymnos, where they rented a house for a time, and then they moved to Hydra, where they bought a house and lived for several years, becoming the centre of a collection of expatriate writers and artists. Polly Samson has written a brilliant novel of the lives of the Clift/Johnston family and community A Theatre for Dreamers on Hydra, and takes their story beyond their eventual departure and return to Australia in 1964 where both resumed careers as journalists and wrote books.
I enjoyed Samson's book so much that I decided I should read Charmian Clift's own two books that she wrote about their time on the Islands.
Life living on royalties from writing was never going to be easy of course. Through Clift's books we see the shift in her views from romantic-if-appalled foreigner, grappling to come to terms with how to get things done, enjoying life by the sea and in the sun, children running free to fear that the burden of poverty would never lift, feeling that while six months living poorly was an experience, potentially years of never having enough money was a different proposition.
Her first book Mermaid Singing is set solely in Kalymnos, the second Peel Me A Lotus is in Hydra. There is a gap between the two and the second one ends well before they leave so it's far from a complete story.
I found myself increasingly engaged with her writing as she moved from travelogue mode to thoughtful comment on the world they now lived in, and some wonderfully observed cultural practices like the Lenten fasts endured by the women in particular and the great celebrations surrounding Easter. At this stage, most of the men in Hydra earned their living by sponge fishing off the coast of north Africa. This meant that they were away from home for seven months of the year and had little to do for the five months they were home except to hang out at the cafes and bars and implant more children in their wives.
Each year several men were crippled by bends for life. I hadn't realised before that 'bends' actually crippled men's limbs. Each year too, men died from diving.
She wrote some shatteringly cruel things about people who regarded themselves as friends, and her resentments at having to put her own writing on hold while she ran a household and feed the masses (three children, multiple visitors, hangers on, no running water) began to emerge more strongly towards the end of Lotus. But still she loved the island life and they stayed several more years after the period of the books.
I'm glad I read them, glad I continued past the travelogue phase. Im also glad that I had read Polly Samson's beautifully researched and sensitively imagined novel first.
January 16, 2025
“Mermaid Singing and Peel me a Lotus' ' fits into my newly created genre of “historical travelogue memoir”. A book (Two books published together in the one publication) that takes elements of each genre and combines it into an engaging and unique picture of a remote place: the Greek islands of Kalymnos and Hydra). A historical time: the 1950s and an intriguing individual: Charmain Clift.
After years spent living in London, Australian author Charmain Clift and her husband, Australian novelist, George Johnston, uproot their young family to live on the remote Greek island of Kalymnos to focus on their co-authoring of a novel and later as a part of a group of bohemian artists on the island of Hydra.
The novels switch between a look at the traditions, habits and eccentricities of the local population and the personal thoughts of Clift, who is constantly ruminating on both the joy and the struggles of their chosen lifestyle. When discussing the locals, Clift manages to show the contrast of their way of life to western society, without ever belittling her subjects. Her genuine love and the sense of community she finds is evident in her writing.
At times the books remind me of “Walden” by Henry David Thoreau as Clift reflects on the beauty of a simple life. However, unlike Thoreau, Clift is not writing from a place of self-righteousness but as a genuine comparison between two ways of life in which she is unsure of which is the better.
This work of Clift’s has led me to delve into the life of her and her husband George Johnston and their other works (now all added to my ever growing to be read list). I soon discovered that the rest of her life is a tragic one, which added greater depth and meaning as I read her work.
Finally, I need to note that Clift is a beautiful writer, whose prose is both intricately descriptive and easy to read. This is a thoroughly enjoyable book. Give it a read.
After years spent living in London, Australian author Charmain Clift and her husband, Australian novelist, George Johnston, uproot their young family to live on the remote Greek island of Kalymnos to focus on their co-authoring of a novel and later as a part of a group of bohemian artists on the island of Hydra.
The novels switch between a look at the traditions, habits and eccentricities of the local population and the personal thoughts of Clift, who is constantly ruminating on both the joy and the struggles of their chosen lifestyle. When discussing the locals, Clift manages to show the contrast of their way of life to western society, without ever belittling her subjects. Her genuine love and the sense of community she finds is evident in her writing.
At times the books remind me of “Walden” by Henry David Thoreau as Clift reflects on the beauty of a simple life. However, unlike Thoreau, Clift is not writing from a place of self-righteousness but as a genuine comparison between two ways of life in which she is unsure of which is the better.
This work of Clift’s has led me to delve into the life of her and her husband George Johnston and their other works (now all added to my ever growing to be read list). I soon discovered that the rest of her life is a tragic one, which added greater depth and meaning as I read her work.
Finally, I need to note that Clift is a beautiful writer, whose prose is both intricately descriptive and easy to read. This is a thoroughly enjoyable book. Give it a read.
May 9, 2024
I really enjoyed exploring more of Charmian Clift’s work after the ‘end of the morning’. This autobiography which is two books goes into an immense amount of detail on culture, characters and happening which she and her family experienced on the two Greek islands.
It is masterfully done with clear and vivid details in her writing which continue to be interesting and in the least bit monotonous. You just need to be prepared to enjoy the feeling of being immersed and being taken on a journey which ebbs and flows as Clift’s life ebbs and flows.
The reason for giving this a four is because I enjoyed ‘Mermaid Singing’ more than ‘Peel me a Lotus’. It could of been because of reading them in succession, but I felt as if the former came full circle and the characters we met were lighter and more engaging. With the latter it seems as if fatigue was starting to set in with their stay in Greek Island (they had experienced a lot during that time, so of course they were fatigued). But all in all a good read.
It is masterfully done with clear and vivid details in her writing which continue to be interesting and in the least bit monotonous. You just need to be prepared to enjoy the feeling of being immersed and being taken on a journey which ebbs and flows as Clift’s life ebbs and flows.
The reason for giving this a four is because I enjoyed ‘Mermaid Singing’ more than ‘Peel me a Lotus’. It could of been because of reading them in succession, but I felt as if the former came full circle and the characters we met were lighter and more engaging. With the latter it seems as if fatigue was starting to set in with their stay in Greek Island (they had experienced a lot during that time, so of course they were fatigued). But all in all a good read.
November 21, 2025
I much preferred her essays than this sort of travel memoir, largely because I like reading her thoughts rather than descriptions of places? Alas…still love her
June 12, 2021
I read these two books after reading Polly Samson's A Theatre for Dreamers, but wish I'd read them first to give a better insight into Charmian Clift and George Johnston and their life on Hydra. Mermaid Singing was about their life on Kalymnos while Peel Me a Lotus takes us into their first years on Hydra.
Charmian writes vividly of the people and the locations. My only regret is that she didn't write more, her writing taking third place to being the wife of a demanding author and mother to three children. I would have liked her version of their later years on the island as she writes so beautifully.
Charmian writes vividly of the people and the locations. My only regret is that she didn't write more, her writing taking third place to being the wife of a demanding author and mother to three children. I would have liked her version of their later years on the island as she writes so beautifully.
March 2, 2025
Charmian Clift is such an accomplished writer. Her words create a vivid world that just leaps to life on the page. One can't help thinking however that it's a bit too idyllic to be true, especially when you think about the factual background to some of those years in paradise. Some of the passages about the many colourful members of the local community and others who begin to invade Hydra as it becomes an increasingly popular tourist destination, struck me as verging on the hysterical at times, with more than a tough of slapstick.
January 13, 2024
the story of the animus makes me chuckle. i respect charmian cliff’s intellect and talent but there are a lot of aspects of her that i don’t really like which is interesting…..a little patronising towards the greeks she interacts with while also seemingly immersing herself fairly well in their way of life.
complex female character except she’s a real person so you have to reckon with how you would react to her in real life more i guess?
complex female character except she’s a real person so you have to reckon with how you would react to her in real life more i guess?
March 16, 2022
A memoir of Australian authors Charmian Clift & George Johnstown’s time on the Greek island of Kalymnos in 1951 and their interactions with the local families of the sponge divers. A fascinating snapshot into the vast differences of life and culture on a remote Greek Island that’s steeped in history and religion. Archaic and beautiful all in one.
March 23, 2021
Mermaid Singing – Charmian Clift
I absolutely adored this book. It gave me such a genuine feel of being part of a move to a remote (at the time) Greek Island. The family make such a huge effort to be part of island life and really fit in with the locals and the way Charmian writes as though events are happening around you as you read makes you feel such a part of their world. It is wonderful. The descriptions of Easter and some of the other religious celebrations are both colourful but honest and give true insight into the importance of these activities for the community. The focus on how the move and the environment impacts of the whole family is also magical. How the children adapt and accept their new lives is inspiring.
I also enjoyed the historical interest and knowledge learned about the sponge diving. Once again imparted in such a relevant and accessible way, it doesn’t feel like an history or a geography lesson but I came away knowing much more than I started with. I cannot wait to get onto the second book in this series.
Peel me a Lotus
The second book from Charmian Clift, with a very good introduction and explanation from Polly Samson. I got a lot more from Polly’s involvement, insight and description in this book than I did from the first. It certainly set the scene and helped to explain the very dramatic alteration in style, voice and approach from Charmian’s first novel, Mermaid Singing. Whilst the first was light-hearted, inspirational and a joy to read, this felt much darker, sadder and harder to get through.
Sadly, for me, the move to another island (Hydra) with an ex-pat/foreigner community already installed really changed the direction of this book and the family’s life. Instead of integrating into Greek life and really embracing the island community I felt the incomers simply set themselves up as ex-pats and as a result struggled to enjoy the same experience as they had on Kalymnos. Some of the background from Polly about events that followed their departure from Hydra and ‘liaisons’ that were ongoing at the time of writing but are not explicitly included in the book may also help to explain the sharpness, the lack of ‘love’ for this second stage adventure. I still enjoyed the book and am glad I read it, but it wasn’t as much of a delight as the first and definitely needs Polly’s input to make sense of things.
I absolutely adored this book. It gave me such a genuine feel of being part of a move to a remote (at the time) Greek Island. The family make such a huge effort to be part of island life and really fit in with the locals and the way Charmian writes as though events are happening around you as you read makes you feel such a part of their world. It is wonderful. The descriptions of Easter and some of the other religious celebrations are both colourful but honest and give true insight into the importance of these activities for the community. The focus on how the move and the environment impacts of the whole family is also magical. How the children adapt and accept their new lives is inspiring.
I also enjoyed the historical interest and knowledge learned about the sponge diving. Once again imparted in such a relevant and accessible way, it doesn’t feel like an history or a geography lesson but I came away knowing much more than I started with. I cannot wait to get onto the second book in this series.
Peel me a Lotus
The second book from Charmian Clift, with a very good introduction and explanation from Polly Samson. I got a lot more from Polly’s involvement, insight and description in this book than I did from the first. It certainly set the scene and helped to explain the very dramatic alteration in style, voice and approach from Charmian’s first novel, Mermaid Singing. Whilst the first was light-hearted, inspirational and a joy to read, this felt much darker, sadder and harder to get through.
Sadly, for me, the move to another island (Hydra) with an ex-pat/foreigner community already installed really changed the direction of this book and the family’s life. Instead of integrating into Greek life and really embracing the island community I felt the incomers simply set themselves up as ex-pats and as a result struggled to enjoy the same experience as they had on Kalymnos. Some of the background from Polly about events that followed their departure from Hydra and ‘liaisons’ that were ongoing at the time of writing but are not explicitly included in the book may also help to explain the sharpness, the lack of ‘love’ for this second stage adventure. I still enjoyed the book and am glad I read it, but it wasn’t as much of a delight as the first and definitely needs Polly’s input to make sense of things.
August 12, 2020
Charmian Clift is a deft writer whose prose is ambrosia. Mermaid Singing was a delight to read with its myriad Kalymnian inhabitants vividly brought to life; Sevasti might just be my soulmate.
Peel Me a Lotus was hard work by comparison. The local inhabitants of Hydra blurred together in my mind, making the arrival of Frenchman Jacques all the more enjoyable. The attitude towards to the torture of animals was worse than the graphic descriptions of it, and wholly consistent with the depiction of the children—on both islands—as grubby explorers fresh from Lord of the Flies.
I snapped up these memoirs for the princely sum of $1.99, knowing nothing about Charmian Clift nor her partner George Johnston, and they were well worth the price of admission. I'd heard of Johnston's My Brother Jack but have never read it nor seen the adaptations.
How intriguing to discover, later, that Johnston wrote the semi-autobiographical Clean Straw for Nothing about two writers relocating to Greece. That Clift killed herself on the eve of its publication, perhaps because it described her own infidelities. How tragic that both Charmian and her son Martin should both die in their 40s.
Peel Me a Lotus was hard work by comparison. The local inhabitants of Hydra blurred together in my mind, making the arrival of Frenchman Jacques all the more enjoyable. The attitude towards to the torture of animals was worse than the graphic descriptions of it, and wholly consistent with the depiction of the children—on both islands—as grubby explorers fresh from Lord of the Flies.
I snapped up these memoirs for the princely sum of $1.99, knowing nothing about Charmian Clift nor her partner George Johnston, and they were well worth the price of admission. I'd heard of Johnston's My Brother Jack but have never read it nor seen the adaptations.
How intriguing to discover, later, that Johnston wrote the semi-autobiographical Clean Straw for Nothing about two writers relocating to Greece. That Clift killed herself on the eve of its publication, perhaps because it described her own infidelities. How tragic that both Charmian and her son Martin should both die in their 40s.
August 20, 2021
It is interesting but somewhat pedestrian. It reads like a travel book. Too many descriptions written by an Australian woman in the 50's. I could not bring myself to finish it. I was interested in it from the point of reading an Australian female writer from that period.
March 2, 2021
A most enjoyable read of the experiences of Charmian Clift and her family living on a Greek island in the 1950/60s. The house might have been uncomfortable but life was never dull.
October 31, 2024
She writes well and the Greek island life is well described. It's more of a summary of their time and The characters and details of the life they lead. Some conflict needed here and there.
April 27, 2023
As a newcomer in Australia, I am constantly looking for authors to give me insight into my new home. These two memoirs, re-released together, introduced me to two authors of considerable renown. When Clift and her partner, George Johnstown, decided to try to live as writers on the Greek islands, they had only a vague idea of the creature comforts they would forego or the frustrations they would endure. In exchange they gave their children some golden years. Clift gave the world a fascinating glimpse into the lives of the people they met on Kalymnos (first book) and then on Hydra.
The writing is captivating, and I enjoyed the journey into another time and place and culture. However, the more I read, the more troubled I was. I began to feel like a voyeur, sitting with a fascinating gossip who held nothing back in exposing the intimate lives of the people around her. The storytelling was engrossing, the writing excellent. I fell under the book's spell but still felt a bit uncomfortable at the end.
The writing is captivating, and I enjoyed the journey into another time and place and culture. However, the more I read, the more troubled I was. I began to feel like a voyeur, sitting with a fascinating gossip who held nothing back in exposing the intimate lives of the people around her. The storytelling was engrossing, the writing excellent. I fell under the book's spell but still felt a bit uncomfortable at the end.
September 24, 2024
Two wonderful books about life and travel on Greek islands in the 1950s, where she moved with her husband and children. With her husband, George Johnston, she wanted to get away from London and get back to nature, and to the sea -- and dedicate herself to writing and raising her kids. Despite their successful careers it was a hard slog as money was scarce. Yet daily details of their life on Kalymnos -- an island where the sponge trade was dying -- are fascinating. The first book, Mermaid, is a portrait of the hard but thrilling life on a remote island. The second describes their life on Hydra, which was much more civilized, as it was closer to Athens by ferry. Beautiful travel writing if you like Greece, not to be missed.
January 30, 2025
3.5 stars - very entertaining read. Light hearted, humorous and very beautifully written. Charmian and her husband George and their children escape London for the Greek Islands in a crazy madcap adventure. There they share the trials and tribulations of living in a completely different culture characterised by rich traditions and a totally different way of life. They loved it. Written with vivid descriptions of daily life and great empathy for the people themselves. Most enjoyable.
February 11, 2025
Interesting observations and insights into the year C C and her family lived on the island of Kalymnos. Well expressed however I found the story less than gripping towards the last third. That said C C’s open mind, adaptability and insight into another culture, particularly in her interaction with the women and children sustained my interest for the most part. She was lucky to arrive on the island before tourism so the book was very timely.
June 15, 2025
Part ethnography, part memoir, Clift's thick descriptions are rich with both cultural and personal revelations. The account of the Orthodox Lenten rituals unfolded cinematically, from the fasting and mourning through the Dionysian revelry on Easter Sunday. As Polly Samson notes in the forward, Clift had observational gifts that travelled the path of Ovid's Icarus--the beautiful but fateful ability to "rejoice in one's own flight".
July 6, 2025
Mermaid Singing.
What a fabulous writer Charmian was. I have had this book, a compilation of this and Peel Me A Lotus for a few years and now I wonder why I haven't read it before. She is a master of language, a painter of pictures, a student of people. Something to be savoured and relished.
Peel Me A Lotus
More wistful. Less exuberant. The reality of poverty and looking after husband and 3 children. But still gorgeous vivid descriptions.
What a fabulous writer Charmian was. I have had this book, a compilation of this and Peel Me A Lotus for a few years and now I wonder why I haven't read it before. She is a master of language, a painter of pictures, a student of people. Something to be savoured and relished.
Peel Me A Lotus
More wistful. Less exuberant. The reality of poverty and looking after husband and 3 children. But still gorgeous vivid descriptions.
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August 3, 2016Loved the images of life on Kalymnos.
March 7, 2025
lush!!!!!!!!
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