Eirini
When Luke and Ingrid visited Elounda they asked Ronnie to paint some pictures of
Spinalonga as it would have looked eighty years ago. This she did and when the pictures were presented to Eirini she was delighted.
They brought back memories for her of the various traumatic and happy events in her life. To pass the time she decides to write her memories down, starting from when she was a young village girl, followed by the long sea voyage to Australia that was forced on her by her parents.
Once in Australia she had to learn a new language and become accustomed to life in a
town that was used primarily for the export of live cattle or their meat. Having found work in one of the numerous bars she decides to marry a man that she hardly knows.
I have just read the whole series of books for a second time and enjoyed them as much as ever.
Eunice Jones
Having read all the books I have been anxiously waiting for this latest book to be published.
Denise Lewing
ISBN 978-1-9997176-7-4
Paperback book £9.99 (+ Postage and packing £3.50)
Spinalonga - The Lepers' Home
The official guide book to Spinalonga.
ISBN 978-0-9574532-1-0
Paperback book £4.50 (+ Postage & Packing £1.80)
Yannis
The compelling story of Yannis, who comes from the village of Plaka on the island of
Crete. He attends school in the town of Aghios Nikolaos and gains a scholarship to the Gymnasium in Heraklion.
Whilst in Heraklion, he is diagnosed with leprosy, shattering his dreams of becoming
an archaeologist. He is admitted to the local hospital for treatment and subsequently transferred to the hospital in Athens. The conditions in the hospital are appalling; overcrowding, lack of amenities, poor food and only basic medication. The inmates finally rebel, resulting in their exile to Spinalonga, a leper colony just across the water from Yannis’s home village.
This book tells the heart rendering account of his life on the small island, his struggle
for survival his loves and losses along with that of his family on the mainland from 1918 to 1979. All the events described are true. The school teacher who became the Mayor of Heraklion is entirely fictitious, as are all the characters.
Wonderful characterisation...all the flavour of local Cretan life...brilliant telling of a story based on actual events...probably the most moving novel I have ever read.
Roger Wickham
ISBN 978-0-95544278-0-0
Paperback book £8.99 (+ Postage and packing £3.50)
Anna
Anna is left to care for her invalid mother and her sister's children when the Germans invade Crete.
A battalion of Italian soldiers is billeted in the village to prevent a seat of resistance being formed on Spinalonga, the leper island opposite the village.
There are resistance workers in the area. How will she protect strong-willed Marisa from the Italian soldiers and impulsive Yannis from joining the resistance?
Unwillingly she becomes involved with the resistance and has to draw on all her resources and ingenuity to fool the Italians, finally risking her life to save the man she loves.
I just had to tell you how much I enjoyed Anna. I just could not put it down! P. Jones
I have just finished reading Anna - wonderful. The end had me in tears.
S. Beard
ISBN 978-0-95544278-1-7
Paperback book £8.99 (+ Postage and packing £3.50)
Giovanni
Yannis has become a successful businessman with a number of hotels. He has taken his resourceful nephew, Giovanni, into partnership. Giovanni is full of ideas to improve the business.
He has only one failing - he is susceptible to a pretty face. His younger brother, Joseph, is resentful of Giovanni's success and determined to avenge himself. With the help of a beautiful woman, he schemes and plans to bring about his brother's disgrace. His final act of revenge has dire results for all involved.
Marianne, Annita's grandaughter visits Athens with her friend and meets relatives who were previously unknown to her. Elizabeth finds the city romantic in many ways. Later they both visit Crete, which has unexpected consequences for Marianne. Yannis's loyalty to his extended family save all of them from shame and humiliation.
The plot widens out even more internationally and into the realms of crime. I think it is incredible the way you construct and move the plot forward, handle the dialogue and the relationships, the scope and complexities of the places and situations. I put you up there with Maeve Binchy, Jeffrey Archer and Colleen McCullough.
M. Hollands (Uckfield Library)
ISBN 978-0-95544278-2-4
Paperback book £7.99 (+ Postage and packing £3.50)
Joseph
Joseph has moved to Rhodes. He lives and works in a warehouse that is a centre for drug distribution and is responsible for taking money to Turkey each week. He becomes over ambitious and has plans to become a wealthy man.
Sorrell is searching for Joseph to wreak her revenge. She accepts the offer of help from a millionaire hotelier and enjoys a life of idleness and luxury before she finds herself in the clutches of a ruthless criminal. She is both used and abused. fearing for her life she finally has to ask Joseph for help and protection.
Events take an unexpected turn and a number of people find they are under the scrutiny of the police. Both Joseph and Sorrell are able to evade the law, but they are unable to evade their ultimate fate at the hands of their associates.
The series of books is the best I have read in 30 years.
C. Taylor
These characters have become part of our family. We talk about them as if they were real.
G. Hiscox
ISBN 978-0-95544278-3-1
Paperback book £7.99 (+ Postage and packing £3.50)
Christabelle
Christabelle is beautiful and highly successful in her chosen career as a model. She has also inherited her talent for acting from her unknown father. People are charmed by her - but there is an evil side to her nature. Anyone who upsets Christabelle regrets it. She takes her revenge to extremes, becoming more confident in her actions each time. She is convinced she is invincible.'
You have done it again! What a thrilling read. I never wanted it to end.
J. Dorney
I have found all four books absolutely brilliant.
L. Harbord
ISBN 978-0-95544278-4-8
Paperback book £7.99 (+Postage and packing £3.50)
Saffron
After Saffron's parents separate and divorce, her father brings her to England, where she adapts well and is happy. She achieves her childhood ambition to become a doctor. She falls deeply in love, only to be badly hurt when her hopes for a long term relationship are cruelly shattered. When she does marry, she finds she has made the biggest mistake of her life.Over the years she has wished to be reunited with her American family and when she finally contacts them it is with an unexpected and delightful result.
A remarkable series of books. I have read each book three times.
J. Evans
One of the best family sagas I have ever read. Please keep writing about this family."
G. Newman
ISBN 978-0-95544278-5-2
Paperback book £7.99 (+ Postage and packing £3.50)
Nicola
Saffron eventually manages to visit Crete and spends time getting to know her family. Through them she meets their friends, Vasilis, Cathy and their son, Vasi.
Nicola is in New Orleans with her family, where she moves on to University after finishing High School. At the weekends she works in a diner to make her pocket money for when she visits Elounda during her summer vacation.
Following a tragedy of his own making, Todd sees Nicola as the salvation from his guilty conscience. He longs for Nicola to notice him and reject John. His desire for Nicola to become dependent upon him becomes an obsession; finally making him follow her to Elounda where events take a drastic and dangerous turn.
I can truly say that all the books I have read by Beryl Darby are compulsive and exciting reading.
Sylvia Winder
I am addicted to these books.
Sue Jones
ISBN 978-0-95544278-8-6
Paperback book £7.99 (+Postage and packing £3.50)
Manolis
Manolis is content with his life as a fisherman. His trips to Spinalonga, delivering supplies to the occupants, give him the opportunity to fall in love and make some extra money. When the Germans invade Crete, Manolis is asked to take a message to a neighbouring village. A seemingly simple task. It results in him sailing half way around Crete in the company of an Englishman until they reach Preveli. Manolis finds himself inexorably caught up with the resistance. Cut off from news of their families the men finally return to their homes at the end of the war, one to happiness, and the other to heartbreak.
Yannis is my favourite book. I visit Elounda each year and read the book again when I return. Iam so looking forward to Manolis.
Gloria Hiscox
I just love these books!
Linda Davies.
ISBN 978-0-95544278-6-2
Paperback book £7.99 (+Postage and packing £3.50)
Cathy
Cathy considers herself to be a very ordinary person and no one is more surprised than her when she is asked to model for a photographer and is immediately successful. She begins to achieve fame and fortune until disaster strikes her.
Confined to a wheelchair, she visits Crete and a local man falls in love with her. Whilst escorting her and her friend to visit a War Memorial he realises that he could actually be her brother. He sets out on a search for the identity of his parents, finally contacting Cathy's father for help.
Manolis was a supberb book and I can't wait to read Cathy.
Shirley Coe.
Manolis was so real that I made a note to visit the war memorial the next time I visited Crete. Then I remembered it was fictitious.
Jackie Evans.
Once I start to read your books I cannot put them down.
Ellen Buela Duebat
ISBN 978-0-95544278-7-9
Paperback book £7.99 (+Postage and packing £3.50)
Vasi
Vasi's dream is to be an airline pilot. When this is impossible his father makes him the manager of a large hotel in Heraklion that was previously owned by Yannis Andronicatis.
Later Vasi buys his own hotel in Hersonissos, but the manager, Stelios, has his own scheme for making money.
When he was at school Vasi made an implacable enemy in Alecos; even as an adult Alecos take every opportunity to humiliate and embarass Vasi.
Vasi contemplates purchasing another hotel in Elounda and Alecos seizes the opportunity to thwart his ambitions. Alecos takes a financial risk that rebounds and leaves him in dire trouble, whilst Vasi finds himself in trouble with the police.
When I found your books I felt I had discovered a hidden chest of treasure.
Julie Colledge
I love your books.
Ann Green
ISBN 978-0-95544278-9-3
Paperback book £7.99 (+ Postage and packing £3.50)
Alecos
The Heraklion police are convinced Vasi caused Alecos’s accident. The police in Aghios Nikolaos are not so sure and investigate another suspicious car in the area that is brought to their attention, causing tension between the two forces.
When Vasilis tries to raise the money for Vasi’s bail discrepancies come to light on the hotel accounts.
Dimitra, Alecos’s girl friend, visits the hospital and decides that a doctor is a better marriage proposition than a bank manager. Teasing the doctor seductively she finds to her cost that the doctor loses patience.
Vasi thinks up an ambitious scheme to help his friend, Yiorgo, and buys Manolis’s fishing boat. He also considers the ideas Saffron puts forward for the use of his father’s house.
Due to Alecos’s crafty manipulation of events, Vasi is forced to make a purchase he had not intended as the only way to clear his name.
I never want to reach the last page of Beryl Darby’s books.
Linda Lucioni
ISBN 978-0-9574532-0-3
Paperback book £7.99 (+Postage and packing £3.50)
