Yesterday, I mentioned the Symi Dream calendar for next year, and that it was now available to order online (only). I’ll be coming back to this subject nearer Christmas, but there’s another new Symi-based artistic creation to consider in the meantime. I’ve not read this, but I read the first book by this author, ‘Heaven.’  Both are set partly on an imaginary island that takes little imagination to see it’s Symi under another name.

Many novels written with Symi as a background focus on the landscapes and delights, the romantic walks through ‘valleys of fertile green’, and along sandy beaches that don’t exist, and tbh, several I’ve read focus more on the way they are written than what they are written about. Some are just dreadful. I once read a Mills & Boon set on the island, and all I can say about that is, Eek! I also read a big fat published novel riding along on the coattails of ‘The Da Vinci Code’ when every other book was about Knights Templar and conspiracies, lost scrolls and mysterious clues, and this one ended up with the hero and villain fighting atop Symi’s Kastro, chasing each other to the cliffs of St George ‘nearby’, and there was someone walking along ‘The sandy beaches of Marathunda.’ Anyone who knows that beach knows you will find no sand, only pebbles, sunbeds and goats. (And a great taverna.)

Anyway, there’s a new book out that’s different because it sugarcoats nothing, and although it’s not about Symi as such, parts of it are set on an imaginary island under a different name, and it’s clear we’re talking about here. It’s talking more about the characters, and one man’s life in particular, and part of that includes ‘Symi.’

The author has also written and published a set of short stories set on the island, and I believe this edition is to be reprinted later this year. I thought you might want to check them both out. As far as I know, the new one is available on Amazon, Kindle, paperback and in Kindle Unlimited, though I am not sure of the status of the first one, ‘Heaven,’ so you might need to search around. (Note: looks to be unavailable right now.)

Here are the links to Amazon.com (which may tell you the book you want is not available; if it does, it’s because you need to go to your nearest Amazon store, I.e. Amazon.co.uk, or Germany, France, Canada, etc. Anyway, if you are interested, you can head off and check out the blurbs and see what you think. (Other books about/with Symi are available. Just because I mention something here doesn’t mean you are going to like it. The value of shares can go down as well as up. Please get an adult to help you and use only rounded-ended scissors. Terms and conditions apply.)

‘Heaven’ by Ann Butler Rowlands (currently being reprinted, but you might find it on eBay.)

‘The Sailors, Their Bears, and the Left-handed Women’ also by Ann Butler Rowlands.