Hydra in Winter: An Island Escape in Search of a Greek Pirate

When Shelley jets off for two weeks on Hydra, she's not seeking a sun-kissed Greek island escape; instead, she's chasing the story of her husband's great-great grandfather-Australia's first Greek convict, and a pirate! Undeterred by chilly rain and zero Greek language skills, she begins her search by appealing for help from the local archivists. But as she samples Hydra's fresh seafood and hikes the island's hills, the warm hospitality she encounters transforms her urgent quest into a joyful lesson in slow travel and ignites a new passion: writing. Her diary sparkles with funny observations on everything from powerful ship-owning families (her in-laws!) to the charm of the island's architecture, and its donkeys.

Hydra in Winter is as warm and witty as Bryson and Mayle-but with more pirates. Readers will fall in love with Hydra-and with Shelley herself.

A funny, heartwarming adventure for travel lovers, history buffs, Philhellenes, aspiring seadogs, procrastinating novelists, armchair adventurers, and anyone trying to keep the spark alive at any age.

"Reading Hydra in Winter is like drinking a bottomless glass of champagne-bubbly, refreshing, and bound you make you laugh." -Kyra Geddes, author of The Story Thief

"Chrónos is the measured, ticking seconds of daily life; kairós represents those rare, significant moments that transcend ordinary time. Hydra is kairós." -Shelley Dark