Jane Bow

"Cally's Way" gives its readers personal, historic and panoramic views of Crete. Author Jane Bow says this, her third novel, took 12 years and many visits to complete. (She supplies a list of books for those who want to know more about the island. It does indeed have a varied and fascinating history.)

The Cally that readers meet is a young woman who wanders away from her tour group, accepts a ride with an agent promising a three-day private tour, then meets and joins a motorcycle-rider and his dog. . . indeed a person who is on the cusp of an interesting time.

The "other Cally" is her grandmother. Details of her life and times only gradually emerge. Even readers who were alive during WW2 may not have been aware of the tragic events (and the heroics of the Cretan villagers who were victimized).

"Cally" is the shortened form of Callisto. The grandmother for whom Cally was named, and whose life is recalled as we read, probably did not have the nickname. But what she did have was a complicated life on this island during World War II, and it is the uncovering of its details that we share as we read 312 pages of their adventures.… (més)