Honour’s Mimic

 Honour’s Mimic

Reviewed By  Grasshopper2       June 9, 2025

 

Author  Charmaine Clift; Afterword Nadia Wheatley.

Distributor:      New South Books
ISBN:                 978-1761170416
Publisher:         New South Publishing
Release Date:   June 2025  

   Website:   https://newsouthbooks.com.au/books/honours-mimic/

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To read Honour’s Mimic is such a pleasure. The author is gifted in her writing and the reader cannot help but linger over phrases and descriptions. Charmian Clift is less well known than her husband author, George Johnston, but her writing, as does his, stands the test of time. The novel was written using the deep knowledge she gained while living on the Greek island of Kalymnos. The story describes a romance but breaks the rules of the time.

Kathy has moved to a Greek Island to support her friend who has married a wealthy Greek boat owner. While friend Milly is pregnant and disinterested in local affairs and needs lots of rest, Kathy is free to move about the island and get to know the people and customs.

She has her own issues as she is recuperating from a car accident and a dull marriage. Kathy meets a sponge diver named Fotis. It is his face which captivates her. Here the author broke the rules of conventional love stories by pairing a well-bred lady with a diver who could barely read. It works so beautifully.

From the beginning the reader has a sense that there will be no happy ending. Fotis’s greatest wish is to migrate to Australia, and while Kathy writes to many agencies to help him there is no way he can go. The Greek men who are divers on the sponge boats live a very precarious life with death or injury a fact of life.

Set amid the beautifully described Island the author brings this story to a conclusion, encompassing the characters met and a beginning understanding of their lives.

Nadia Wheatley has been responsible for bringing Charmian’s writings to our attention. She has written an afterword which explains how the author used her own experiences while living on the Island. Charmian was supporting her husband in his writings but absorbed every aspect of the culture to create her own story. Her writing will touch your soul.

Fiction, General, Historical