The Girl Under the Olive Tree: 'A moving and compelling story' Rachel Hore

Leah Fleming

Jan 2013 · Sold by Simon and Schuster

About this ebook

FROM THE ACCLAIMED AUTHOR OF THE LAST PEARL AND DANCING AT THE VICTORY CAFE, this is a beautiful novel about family secrets, wartime betrayals and redemption.

May 1941 and the island of Crete is invaded by paratroopers from the air. After a lengthy fight, thousands of British and Commonwealth soldiers are forced to take to the hills or become escaping PoWs, sheltered by the Cretan villagers.

Sixty years later, Lois West and her young son, Alex, invite feisty Great Aunt Pen to a special eighty-fifth birthday celebration on Crete, knowing she has not been back there since the war.

Penelope George - formerly Giorgidiou - is reluctant to go but is persuaded by the fact it is the 60th anniversary of the Battle. It is time for her to return and make the journey she never thought she'd dare to. On the outward voyage from Athens, she relives her experiences in the city from her early years as a trainee nurse to those last dark days stranded on the island, the last female foreigner.

When word spreads of her visit, and old Cretan friends and family come to greet her, Lois and Alex are caught up in her epic pilgrimage and the journey which leads her to a reunion with the friend she thought she had lost forever - and the truth behind a secret buried deep in the past...

Praise for Leah Fleming
'I enjoyed it enormously.It's a moving and compelling story about a lifetime's journey in search of the truth' RACHEL HORE
'A born storyteller' KATE ATKINSON

Ratings and reviews

This book gradually developed over time. So much information and lovely developing story lines. I read it whilst in Crete on holiday and so it was a very special read. I loved the time travelling back and forth and the fact that the characters were so interesting and the story lines generally unpredictable. Perhaps a little too much crammed into the book at times that meant some details felt a little rushed but overall a lovely read.

Full of adventure, danger, history and sadness. Also romance. An older lady looking back at her youthful adventures and horrors. A very good read. I want to visit Crete now

Enjoyable reading....descriptive, poignant and thought provoking...a link to the past.

About the author

Leah Fleming was born in Lancashire and was married with three sons and a daughter. She wrote from an old farmhouse in the Yorkshire Dales and an olive grove in Crete.