Wild Abandon: A Journey to the Deserted Places of the Dodecanese

by Jennifer Barclay

‘There's something about abandoned places which moves me and captures the imagination.' So says seasoned travel writer Jennifer Barclay as she walks with her dog and her backpack through the deserted spaces of the Dodecanese, islands that were once bustling but are now half forgotten and reclaimed by the wild due to a mix of misfortune and the lure of opportunity elsewhere. Join her on a journey through abandoned villages and farms, cave-houses and captains' mansions, the homes of displaced Muslim fishermen and poets, as she discovers beauty in the ruins, emptiness and silence, and inspiration in the stories of people's lives.A long-term resident of Greece, Jennifer Barclay spent more than four years researching Wild Abandon , visiting islands multiple times and hearing the stories of local people. She travels from the very west to the very east of the Dodecanese, from the very south almost to the very north, taking in some of the smallest and the biggest islands, and highlighting different stories along the way to show the complex history behind these havens of tranquillity. She discovers a villa intended for Benito Mussolini's retirement, an island that links a gramophone from St Petersburg and a portrait in the American National Gallery via a pack of cigarettes, and reflects on the days when an economy based on sponges and burnt rock supported thousands.She also learns of connections with the painter from Kalymnos whose self-portrait hangs in the American National Gallery and the man in Kasos who was supposed to be painting the World Trade Center on 9/11. Inside a trunk in an abandoned house she finds a note with a hand-written address in New York. And she hears of the diaspora who made America their those from Nisyros who moved to New York, from Karpathos who settled in Baltimore, and from Halki and other islands who make Tarpon Springs, Florida the city with the highest percentage of Greek Americans in the United States. Wild Abandon is an elegy in praise of abandoned places and a search for lost knowledge through the wildest and most deserted locations.

Genres: Nonfiction, Travel

272 pages, Paperback

Published November 1, 2020

About the author

Author of Meeting Mr Kim, Falling in Honey, An Octopus in my Ouzo, Wild Abandon and Taverna by the Sea. Live mostly on a tiny island in Greece. www.octopus-in-my-ouzo.blogspot.com

Reviews

[Julie · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is not a novel but a delightful account of visits to deserted and abandoned places in the Dodecanese. With not twelve islands in the group as you might imagine from the name but some twenty inhabited and 160 in total, Jennifer takes the reader on a visit to some of the wildest places that cover a wide expanse. On her many journeys the author inevitably discovers a little gem, giving us information about the lifestyle and culture of the inhabitants that we would never have got otherwise. it is these glimpses into another life that are so personal and make the places come alive. This is very much a journey of love for the author and it feels like travelling with your own personal tour guide. Full of anecdotes, snippets of information and some real characters, I loved this armchair travel.

[Lindsay Ford · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is travel writing at its finest - a beautifully written book by Jennifer Barclay takes you across the archipelagos of Greece's most enigmatic islands, delving into places, people and ideas with wild abandon. I absolutely adored it - reading it was like being there! Barclay searches out places lost and unmapped, crumbling and hidden from view. Ancient pathways, sparsely populated villages, falling down mansions, caves and farms long lost to time and memory. It is a wonderful slice of life in the lesser known islands and highly recommended to anyone who knows the country well, and those who are yet to explore its mysteries.

The book offers an unparalleled sense of place weaved by Barclay's sublime prose in every adventure. Each chapter is peppered with historical and social details from locals she meets along the way; scenes of island life away from the crowds, cosy hillside tavernas, remote villages and rural life. All jostle with everyday challenges in places where people have left in droves and slowly some have returned. Barclay deftly explores scenes from a version of Greece on the very cusp of change and with this the book is very timely because of it.

All at once it is an intimate book with evocative prose which skillfully shows the author's fascination with abandoned places and a heart-felt admiration for Greece.

Dive in and enjoy every word!

[Diane · Rating 5 out of 5]

A captivating and illuminating read. The writing is so vivid, so concise, you feel you are at the writer's side as she discovers the beauty and explores the history and vanishing traditions of these fascinating islands. Prepare to be transported!

[Olivia · Rating 4 out of 5]

As a lover of Greece, I thoroughly enjoyed this book and learning about the history surrounding the Dodecanese islands. The author has a way of describing the places visited and people met that you can see them vividly and it feels like you’re there. Issues such as mass tourism and plastic pollution were highlighted as well and not glossed over - as lovely as Greece is, it has its problems and I felt the book handled this well, highlighting how certain issues affect each island and the locals. Great read

[Marion Crook · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great read

Jennifer Barclay notices the specific sights and smells of her beloved Greek Islands describing them with detailed and interesting prose keeping the reader intrigued to the end of the book

[Mads Henrik · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a most interesting travel narrative and guide in one. A delightful read, transporting the reader to villages and hiking paths around the Greek Dodecanese islands, meeting local islanders as well as many guests from the widespread Greek diaspora abroad.

The book is a dear revisit to some of the unique and fascinating places in the Greek Dodecanese islands as well as an inspiration for new places to explore. Adding new knowledge and some local anecdotes to spots already explored - like Karpathos, Nissyros and Halki - and at the same time exploring some lesser known places - like Kasos and Arki - providing new entries to the to-go list for both Greek Island friends and enthusiasts and everyone with a curiosity for new exploration.

In these times of high velocity and constant acceleration for so many, the idea that another life and lifestyle still exists in some of these islands is a comfort that Jennifer Barclay strongly underlines with this book. But at the same time, it becomes obvious why this life for many islanders also comes with a hardship that has driven many to emigrate, both inside Greece and abroad.

A lasting impression after reading the book is the fact that these islands were impacted by movement of populations, by both emigration and immigration. To and from Asia Minor and Turkey, North Africa, the Middle East and from Italy during the years of Italian sovereignty. From trade, from wars and conflicts and from the need to survive in a rough and often inhospitable environment.

For anyone with a wish or plans to visit the Greek islands, Wild Abandon is a reference book in its genre. And a sequel would be embraced with gratitude.

[Janette Sherwin · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a beautifully written book about the lesser known islands of the Dodecanese, remote villages with abandoned dwellings and the folk Jennifer Barclay meets along the way.

Written with great vividness and warmth, the author encapsulates the wild nature and beautiful landscapes of the lesser visited and harder to reach Greek islands.

Walking and exploring off the beaten track, Miss Barclay describes the people she encounters along the way and the stories they are happy to share. They describe their way of life and the changes that have taken place in their lifetime. They explain the reasons people have left the hillside villages for an easier way of life in a more modern world.

This book will appeal to those of us who love to set out on unexplored paths, ready for adventure and open to all kinds of experiences, albeit from an armchair. To those who love Greece, the Greek Islands and the warmth, generosity and spirit of the Greek people.

[Diarmid · Rating 5 out of 5]

Jennifer Barclay writes about the islands of the Dodecanese, about their landscape, their history, and the way depopulation has affected them in recent decades. It's more in-depth than many travel books though, as Barclay lives and works on the island of Tilos, speaks Greek, and spends around a year and a half living on Karpathos during the course of her travels, giving the book added nuance and emotional weight.

[John Stiles · Rating 4 out of 5]

There's a sense of innate stoicism in the voice of narrator Jennifer Barclay as she rambles through the deserted towns and villages of the Greek Islands of the Docadenese. There is also something of Robert Graves' introspection and isolation in Barclay's resolve to narrate everyday life on Tilos, Kalymnos, Karpathos, Rhodes, Kos and Nisyros to try to understand why some formerly thriving villages have become deserted.

link: Full Review Here

[Ioannis Gkikas · Rating 4 out of 5]

A bout of melancholy/nostalgia gripped me at the beginning of the book but it slowly dissipated. To a large extent we share the same interests so I recognized many places and some of the people mentioned in the book. I largely preferred the interactions with the locals and the different stories they had to tell. The ramblings/hikes became somewhat repetitive probably because the landscape is often very similar. Overall a very good book that really captures the essence of the proud Greeks living in some of the remotest parts of Europe.

[Ian · Rating 2 out of 5]

Our family are frequent visitors to the Greek islands so it was with some anticipation that I read this book. It started well with wonderful descriptions of the more remote and abandoned parts of the islands. The author captures the nature of the islands and character of the people very well. However after just over half of the book I started to get bored with very similar descriptions of each island to the point I was struggling to discern one island from another.

[Catherine · Rating 5 out of 5]

Having been to six of the islands described in this book and living on one of them I found this fascinating. Greece has been through so much in the last 200 years which has sadly led to a depopulation, especially from The Dodecanese, with people emigrating to far flung places across the world. I’ve learnt a great deal about the recent history of these beautiful islands.

[Pamela Hamilton · Rating 4 out of 5]

I've read all of Jennifer's books and this one did not disappoint. I've also read a lot of the books that she has edited. She was the reason that I started to love the travel writing genre with her Falling in Honey. I must have read over 200 by now - a lot of them about Greece, but also France, Spain and Italy. I am looking forward to her latest - Taverna by the Sea.

[K · Rating 2 out of 5]

A solid 1.5 stars. I did enjoy hearing about the stories of the Greeks she talked to, but it was a LOT of scenery description and debatable choices, and a little condescending/dismissive of literally anyone not Greek that she mentioned.

[Christine · Rating 3 out of 5]

A book that transports you to another place, the beautifully haunted places of the Dodecanese.