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Wild Abandon: A Journey to the Deserted Places of the Dodecanese' (Bradt Travel Guides (Travel Literature)) Kindle Edition

by Jennifer Barclay (Author) Format: Kindle Edition
4.6 4.6 out of 5 stars 124 ratings
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"A vivid and intoxicating account of these beautiful islands" - Victoria Hislop.

"A must-read for anyone who loves the Greek islands" - Richard Clark


'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 talking to local people to hear their stories. 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.
Wild Abandon is an elegy in praise of abandoned places and a search for lost knowledge through the wildest and most deserted locations.
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  1. Print length
    272 pages
  2. Language
    English
  3. Sticky notes
    On Kindle Scribe
  4. Publisher
    Bradt Travel Guides
  5. Publication date
    May 1, 2020
  6. File size
    5573 KB
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Editorial Reviews

Review

Inspiring ― heat magazine on Falling in Honey

beautiful memoir ― Booklist on Falling in Honey

About the Author

After growing up in a village in the Pennines, Jennifer Barclay studied Ancient Greek at grammar school and English at Oxford. She then lived for a year in Athens and has travelled widely in the Greek islands, settling on Tilos, a small island in the Dodecanese, in 2011 to work from home and write. She now lives surrounded by hills and the sea, travelling often to other islands with her dog, Lisa. She has written about her life in Greece in her books Falling in Honey and An Octopus in my Ouzo, and in publications including The Times, Metro, The Daily Mail and Psychologies. She has appeared on Greek television and been interviewed across Greek media, and given talks to the Scottish Hellenic Society. www.octopus-in-my-ouzo.blogspot.com

Product details

  • ASIN ‏ : ‎ B087X5NCFZ
  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ Bradt Travel Guides; 1st edition (May 1, 2020)
  • Publication date ‏ : ‎ May 1, 2020
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • File size ‏ : ‎ 5573 KB
  • Text-to-Speech ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • Enhanced typesetting ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • X-Ray ‏ : ‎ Not Enabled
  • Word Wise ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • Sticky notes ‏ : ‎ On Kindle Scribe
  • Print length ‏ : ‎ 272 pages
  • Customer Reviews:
    4.6 4.6 out of 5 stars 124 ratings

About the author

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Jennifer Barclay

Jennifer Barclay

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Full content visible, double tap to read brief content.

Author of (in order of publication) MEETING MR KIM, FALLING IN HONEY, AN OCTOPUS IN MY OUZO and WILD ABANDON: A JOURNEY TO THE DESERTED PLACES OF THE DODECANESE. I've also co-compiled other books from AWOL to BEASTLY JOURNEYS and wrote the food-and-literature book A LITERARY FEAST. I live on the Greek island of Tilos and as well as writing books, work as a book editor and literary agent.

My main author blog: www.octopus-in-my-ouzo.blogspot.com

Photos and review quotes of my latest book at: www.wild-abandon-dodecanese.blogspot.com

Business website: www.jenniferbarclaybooks.com

I've had articles and excerpts published in The Times, Metro, The Daily Mail, The Guardian, Jetaway, Food and Travel, Thomas Cook Travel, Wanderlust online, Skyscanner, CNN Travel online, Blue Wings, The Globe and Mail and The Toronto Star, and been interviewed on BBC Radio, Talk Radio Europe, Australian national radio and Korean television. FALLING IN HONEY featured in Heat magazine's Top 5 Books, the Mail on Sunday's You magazine and the Daily Express, and reached #16 in Travel Writing on Amazon.co.uk. AN OCTOPUS IN MY OUZO was called 'poetic, touching and enlightening' by one of my literary heroes, Anne Zouroudi. Victoria Hislop called WILD ABANDON 'vivid and intoxicating'.

Customer reviews

4.6 out of 5 stars
4.6 out of 5
124 global ratings

Top reviews from the United States

05/11A
5.0 out of 5 stars Greek Islands Love of a small place!
Reviewed in the United States on June 1, 2022
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I just happened onto Jennifer Barclay's book. Having spent time on several Greek Islands for extended time in 2019, I wondered what life would be like living full time on a small island..knowing everybody to include the goats which wander at ease everywhere. Jennifer's book answered that question. Living on Tilos which is very near Kos and further Rhodes, Jennifer easily describes the mood and excitement of wandering around the small island mixing with ancient past and the untouched beauty of the island. Excellent read for those on the trails less travelled. I also bought the "Falling into Honey", too. Will review that next! RH/Melbourne Beach, Florida
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Deanna
4.0 out of 5 stars Wild Abandon is a great read.
Reviewed in the United States on January 11, 2021
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I love the country of Greece and gobble up almost any books that I can find about it: fiction o r non-fiction.
I must admit I loved her two previous books even more so, only because this one was more about her travels and discoveries about "almost abandoned ,or totally unspoiled islands in Greece.
I've visited quite a few places in my eleven visits to Greece, but I'm not near as adventuresome as Jennifer.
I found myself totally lost at times, worrying like a mother hen about her and her dog Lisa, as they hiked all over in the mountains, and cliffs all alone, and at times getting a bit lost with no one knowing where she was headed.
Happy Trails to you lovers of Greece!
Bravo Jennifer and Lisa,
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Luna
5.0 out of 5 stars An excellent book about one of my favorite parts of the world
Reviewed in the United States on September 26, 2022
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I loved this book. It is ostensibly a travel book, but is very different from many of the same genre.
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m.zee
5.0 out of 5 stars You get a feel for what small village life is like on these islands.
Reviewed in the United States on April 26, 2021
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This is a great little travel log, memoir type of book. I really enjoyed reading about the 12 islands of the Dedeconeese islands in Greece, one of which is the island that my ancestors came from, Nisiros. You really get a feel for what small village life is like on these islands particularly when there are a few tourists.
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VICTORIA
5.0 out of 5 stars Beautiful book about the Greek Islands
Reviewed in the United States on February 8, 2021
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Another well written, magical book about Greece by Jennifer Barclay. She really captures the essence of being on a wild Greek Island. Highly recommend "Wild Abandon"
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Maria A. Karamitsos – Journalist, Author, Poet, & Proud Hellene
5.0 out of 5 stars Part travel memoir, part history book, part ode to a lost way of living
Reviewed in the United States on February 9, 2021
Jennifer Barclay lovingly shares the stories of these remote islands, some we’ve never heard of, unveiling their almost forgotten history, their rugged beauty. She reveals the stories of some of these islands’ children, who left to find their fame and fortune in other parts of the world, and those who continue to return to these little known places forged in their DNA and in their hearts.

Her poignant prose is at once an education in the history of these islands, but also makes you reconsider how you travel. There’s much to see and do in well-known places, but there’s also something magical, sad, yet delightful, in discovering an almost forgotten, faraway place. One that rescues us—even for a little while—away from the rat race, and into a simpler, more meaningful, unrestricted life. During this time when we can’t travel, Jennifer’s stories are more profound than ever. They not only present a virtual travel opportunity but also evoke a personal exploration into our own ways of life.
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Top reviews from other countries

Tyler Durden
5.0 out of 5 stars Superbly Evocative
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on December 31, 2022
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Having only visited remote Greek Islands in the summer, I was interested to see accounts of both out-of-season weather conditions and the history of these beautiful islands.

The author writes superbly, bringing the sea, the terrain and the weather right to the reader. The history is well-researched and interspersed with anecdotes from the islanders. Essential reading for anyone with an interest in Greece's lesser known islands.
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Marion Crook
5.0 out of 5 stars Great read
Reviewed in Canada on June 19, 2020
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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
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Amazon Customer
4.0 out of 5 stars Off the beaten track
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on September 9, 2020
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A beautiful and haunting journey through some of the remote Greek islands, the author takes you away from the tourist traps into hidden and ancient places. Wonderful descriptions of scenery, wildlife and local people that were encountered in her travels.
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RogerS
5.0 out of 5 stars A beautifully written insight into the people, history and hidden places of the Dodecanese
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on May 19, 2020
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There is nothing better for me than exploring Greece, it's nature and the history. Jennifer Barclay's writing transported me to old much loved places and to new as yet untrodden paths for future exploring. Wild Abandon captures the spirit and soul of Greece and its amazing people so well and paints a picture in words of one of the most unique places on the planet.
If you have visited the Dodecanese before you might recognise the islands you have visited but through the eyes ears of the author and the experiences of the people that she meets you will uncover hidden stories of survival, emigration and optimism.
If you have not visited the Dodecanese and like to walk the path less-trodden then this book is for you - Find some quiet hours, pull on your mental 'walking boots' and explore the islands with Jennifer as your guide.
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Suzi Stembridge
5.0 out of 5 stars Travelling can sometimes be a privilege. Travelling with Jennifer Barclay is always a privilege .
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on November 26, 2022
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There is a gentle pleasure in sharing the outdoors with this author. One is drawn into nature with all its scents and views so that one can be caught up in the breeze, or concerned by the wind and rocks underfoot, frightened even when lost as the sun fades and dusk challenges. I can even liken it to travelling with that other great author, Patrick Leigh Fermor. Aside from Arki and Kasos I have visited all the Dodecanese islands in Wild Abandon, and on Rhodes, Nisyros, Karpathos and Kastellorizo and experienced much of their wildness but with this remarkable book I was seeing the islands through fresh eyes, and learning a lot.
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