Falling in Honey

January 15, 2014
A peripatetic 30-something Englishwoman's account of how a Greek island "got under [her] skin" and showed her the way to contented self-direction. When Barclay (The Traveller's Friend: A Miscellany of Wit and Wisdom, 2011, etc.) was studying ancient Greek at Hulme Grammar School for Girls, she never imagined that Greece would eventually become her personal North Star. All through her adolescence, she returned to it during her holidays, and after she graduated from college unclear about what to do next, she went to Greece to teach English and "have the adventures that life should be about." Work eventually took her to Canada, where she married, divorced, and spent more than five years living and traveling around the world with a man she believed was "the one." The relationship ended with her realizing that she wanted a child and that time was running out for her to have one. Barclay once again turned her attention to Greece, hoping that this time it could be "a good cure for love." So she went to the tiny island of Tilos, where she became the unwitting romantic interest of another suitor. Barclay returned home to England and began dating once more, only to be disappointed yet again. She found solace in the arms of a friend, Matt, who unexpectedly became her lover and, later, fiance. Together, the two planned to return to Tilos to live and eventually raise a family, but the fairy tale came to an abrupt end when Barclay discovered that Matt had lied about almost everything, from his job to his ability to have children. Yet Barclay remained unfazed by romantic disappointment. In the end, she realized that "it was always meant to be all about [her] and Tilos," not about the fragile romantic relationships that too often undermined her hopes and dreams. Light and lively reading with an understated edge.

COPYRIGHT(2014) Kirkus Reviews, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.

March 15, 2014
Barclay first visited the tiny Greek island of Tilos with friends, including a lover with promising prospects. In her mid-thirties when those prospects fell apart, she never forgot the appeal of the island with its breathtaking views and population of 500, far outnumbered by goats. Emotionally adrift, she makes herself three pledges, gifts to herself: cut back on work, take a six-month hiatus from relationships to reconnect with herself, and spend a month in Tilos. She immerses herself in the Greek culture, food, language, and dance she so loves. Emotionally healed and recharged, she returns to England, where she meets a man who wants what she wants, a future with children and maybe a life on that tiny Greek island. But all of her careful precautions against heartbreak and preparation for her life-changing move don't preclude the disaster she faces. Barclay's beautiful memoir recalls both Elizabeth Gilbert's Eat, Pray, Love (2006) and the movie My Big Fat Greek Wedding, providing glimpses into the lives of people in a small Greek village and the process of healing from a broken heart.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2014, American Library Association.)