4.7
Biographies
In 1954 Australian writers Charmian Clift and George Johnston, with children in tow, left grey post-war London for Greece.
Mermaid Singing details the culture shock and sheer delight of their first year on the tiny sponge-fishing island of Kalymnos. Clift paints an evocative picture of the characters and sun-drenched rhythms of traditional life, long before mass tourism descended.
A travel writing classic, available for the first time in twenty years with a new introduction by Polly Samson. "Mermaid Singing" is the companion volume to Peel Me a Lotus.
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
© 2021 SAGA Egmont (Audiobook): 9788728024577
Release date
Audiobook: 15 October 2021
4.7
Biographies
In 1954 Australian writers Charmian Clift and George Johnston, with children in tow, left grey post-war London for Greece.
Mermaid Singing details the culture shock and sheer delight of their first year on the tiny sponge-fishing island of Kalymnos. Clift paints an evocative picture of the characters and sun-drenched rhythms of traditional life, long before mass tourism descended.
A travel writing classic, available for the first time in twenty years with a new introduction by Polly Samson. "Mermaid Singing" is the companion volume to Peel Me a Lotus.
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
© 2021 SAGA Egmont (Audiobook): 9788728024577
Release date
Audiobook: 15 October 2021
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Overall rating based on 3 ratings
Heartwarming
Inspiring
Cozy
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11 Mar 2022
What a writer Charmian Clift is! What gems would have come from her pen, had she lived longer! What extraordinary style and thought! Haunting and spiritual on one hand but funny and sparkling on the other! The narrator, Josie Taylor has lifted the book up another few notches with her soulful rendering.
English
India