Under the Olives

Under The Olives is a story set in the Ionian islands of Greece. If you slow down as you pass the many old olive groves, you can catch glimpses of a whole hidden world underneath the olives. I found this fascinating - hence the story of a girl coming to the island to get away from a bad relationship but with an agenda of possibilities.

After a very bad relationship experience in the Uk, Emma fly's to Greece to recover and to research the possibilities of a new location for her 'Island Hops' holiday business. On the plane she meets a doctor returning to the islands. She stays in a wonderful little hotel full of charm, with lovely hosts; she soon discovers that everybody knows everybody. Emma falls in love with the island and its people. She finds a healing balm to the senses, in the quiet under the olive trees, she likes touching the gnarled old branches and can inhale the slight oiliness in the bark. As she begins to recover she realises that Marc, the doctor, is largely responsible for her beginning to feel happy again. She discovers a whole secret world in the large olive groves which she finds fascinating. She can see people and animals moving in the distance caught in the light as it filters down through the trees. She gets lost one day and comes across an unexpected scene which creates misunderstanding and great upset. Then she has an unwelcome visitor from the UK and everything starts to unravel. But the island and its people have helped her to become strong again; Emma has a second chance at happiness and she must take it, put the past behind and move forward into the light.