Everand Logo

Welcome to Everand!

  • Discover millions of ebooks, audiobooks, and so much more with a free trial

    Only $11.99/month after trial. Cancel anytime.

    Mermaid Singing
    Mermaid Singing
    Mermaid Singing
    Ebook278 pages3 hours

    Mermaid Singing

    By Charmian Clift

    4/5

    ()

    Switch to audiobook
    Read preview

    About this ebook

    In 1951 the Australian writers Charmian Clift and George Johnston left grey, post-war London for Greece. Settling first on the tiny island of Kalymnos, then Hydra, their plan was to live simply and focus on their writing The result is Charmian Clift's best known and most loved books, Mermaid Singing and Peel Me a Lotus. Mermaid Singing relays the culture shock and the sheer delight of their first year on the tiny sponge-fishing island of Kalymnos. Clift paints an evocative picture of the characters and sun-drenched rhythms of traditional life, long before backpackers and mass tourism descended. On Hydra, featured in the companion volume, Peel Me a Lotus, Clift and Johnston became the centre of an informal community of artists and writers including the then unknown Leonard Cohen who lodged with them, and his future girlfriend Marianne Ihlen.
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherMuswell Press
    Release dateApr 1, 2021
    ISBN9781838110154
    Author

    Charmian Clift

    Charmian Clift was born in Kiama, New South Wales, in 1923. She became a journalist on the Melbourne Argus newspaper after the war, and in 1947 married novelist and journalist George Johnston. Early in their marriage they collaborated on three novels, then, in 1954, they took their family to live in the Greek Islands. There, Clift wrote these accounts of her life and two novels, Honour’s Mimic and Walk to the Paradise Gardens. On returning to Australia in 1964, Clift began writing a weekly newspaper column which quickly gained a wide and devoted readership. She died in 1969.

    Read more from Charmian Clift

    Related to Mermaid Singing

    Related ebooks

    Travel For You

    View More
    View More

    Related podcast episodes

    Related articles

    • Article

      Reactions

      Aug 17, 2022

      Reactions
      2 min read

    • Article

      Oceans

      Mar 15, 2019

      I used to be interested in mountains. They moved at a speed I could deal with. They waited for me to catch up. It was like that all my life. Then we moved to California, and after eight years of earthquakes I began to doubt my ability to put things i

      12 min read

    • Article

      Fourteen First and Last Sentence Novels

      Apr 22, 2022

      I think of this as a new literary form, a type of novelistic prose poem, a hybrid, a chimera, whose main currency is delight, wonder, and mystery. The post Fourteen First and Last Sentence Novels appeared first on The Millions.

      13 min read

    • Article

      For Snow Queens Who Have Considered Suicide Because Paul Newman in the First Twenty Minutes of Paris Blues Is Too Much

      Jun 14, 2022

      But I start with the great Sidney Poitier because his stardom was an established part of the Freedom movement in 1964, and he was to be the chaperone of my inner awakening that dramatic year. Indianapolis, my hometown, had some brave marches and two

      10 min read

    • Article

      Re-Covered: The Mischief

      Dec 2, 2019

      Re-Covered: The Mischief
      8 min read

    • Article

      ‘My “Sad Girl” Fans Concern Me’: Ottessa Moshfegh In Conversation With Carmen Maria Machado

      Jul 2, 2022

      At 41, Ottessa Moshfegh has appeared on the Booker prize shortlist, for her debut novel Eileen, and the bestseller lists, with My Year of Rest and Relaxation, for which she is currently collaborating on a film adaptation. Her new novel, Lapvona, is s

      8 min read

    • Article

      Jan Morris

      Jun 15, 2018

      I have always rather envied the poet Ovid, who was banished from Rome by the emperor Augustus, you may remember, to a remote place called Tomis on the shores of the Black Sea. There he died, ten years later, and his exile has gone into legend and int

      17 min read

    • Article

      From Queenie To The Mating Season, 15 Books To Help You Beat The January Blues

      Jan 18, 2021

      Two years ago, I published a list of comfort reading to beat the drab January blues. Little did I know that winter 2019 was a golden nirvana, a halcyon period when you could meet a friend for a drink, blast out your problems in the gym, soothe your s

      6 min read

    • Article

      Two Sides To A Story: Why Feminist Retellings Are Filling Our Bookshelves

      Mar 24, 2023

      From Circe to Medusa via Persephone, Electra and the women of Troy, it seems there are few characters from Greek mythology left who haven’t been the subject of a feminist retelling in recent years. This year, the world of such reimaginings is expandi

      4 min read

    • Article

      Great Read

      Feb 23, 2022

      Great Read
      6 min read

    • Article

      The Lives Of War Prisoners And An Ex-spy

      Apr 19, 2024

      Don’t allow yourself to be put off by the cumbersome title because this is a good book. South Africa’s contribution to the Allied cause in the north African deserts and Abyssinia is well known – less so that it resulted in upwards of 100 000 Italian

      2 min read

    • Article

      Great Read

      Feb 23, 2022

      Great Read
      4 min read

    • Article

      A Round-up Of The Latest BOOKS

      Sep 9, 2022

      In 1901 John Voss, a sometime sailor and carpenter, set out on a round-the-world trip in a 38ft (11.6m) wooden dugout canoe named the Tilikum. It would be understandable if you viewed this not so much as a cruise as a suicide mission. Nevertheless, h

      2 min read

    • Article

      THE Reading room

      Dec 2, 2020

      Trent Dalton’s ambitious tale combines a dreamy aura of magical realism with scenes rooted in the Australian landscape. At its heart is Molly Hook, the “poor little gravedigger girl”, age seven when the story opens in Darwin in 1935. Molly’s mum, Vio

      7 min read

    • Article

      The Hermit Of Suvarov

      Jul 30, 2020

      The Hermit Of Suvarov
      5 min read

    • Article

      The Casco Bay Death Ship

      Mar 31, 2020

      The Casco Bay Death Ship
      4 min read

    • Article

      Stirring Stories & Tall Tales

      Jul 23, 2023

      Life goes on. The Earth renews itself. Feral populations re-establish. In perhaps “the world’s greatest experiment in rewilding”, 30-something years on from the Chernobyl nuclear disaster and the compulsory exodus of humans, wild animals – bears, bis

      3 min read

    Related categories

    Reviews for Mermaid Singing

    4/5

    14 ratings1 review

    What did you think?

    Tap to rate

    Review must be at least 10 words

    • 5/5
      Charmian Clift welcomed me into a colorful Old World community, where a man could not marry until his sister was married, where an entire family slept together on a sleeping shelf, where poverty was the rule and simplicity the key to life, where men and women led nearly separate lives. For centuries the men of Kalymnos had been sponge divers. For as long as six months out of the year, the men were at sea, harvesting the sponges that (with the exception of a few small shops, taverns, and coffee houses) were the only means of income for the community. At home, women reared children, prayed, and waited for their men to come home from the sea—and every year men died or returned crippled by decompression sickness. Though the world of Kalymnos seemed to be about men’s work, Clift describes a society where women were considered mysterious and powerful: women owned the property; men were their servants, expected only to be virile and hardworking. Here, the notion of dowry stems not from a woman contributing her share, but rather a woman’s family gifting her with the means to establish herself as the center of a new, young family. The goal of all men was to attract the eye of a likely woman who would find them worthy. Clift is a superb writer. Her memories from the year she and her young family spent on the Greek island of Kalymnos in the mid 1950s is engaging and packed with careful detail of daily life in a small community whose primary rituals of weddings, funerals, and christenings had changed little for centuries. Mermaid Singing is as suitable for an anthropologist as it is for the avid travel reader or fan of memoir. Clift is known in her native Australia as an essayist of unmatched talent. The same may be said for her memoirs. I have no doubt her fiction will be as satisfying.

    Book preview

    Mermaid Singing - Charmian Clift

    Kdbook_preview_excerpt.html|۲ƕ寠ޤ.O{zl+*ұn.dFE??0'YkLdUD(T$ܹk_ 1ϿcBS U*ٯpMSw?)ľ_m;%|WbsXuתɏ ?}Z<|2Q^&TXp;z\_K߄i? +`qtw}}Ͽ_>v/g~/~/g~/~/gj穂^Tt{uW:ilt/8VPo0o}>Mкb~a cUBی_Njó'\4}/Āz\[^>~!el|z|}Ŀjk3U Q}SkUuti(?_w莝I |:N&`v}%Q9ⱝOS5KۦTW}y#[bcJc SuqXMt` PAأRylu}Ocz#f=VOWsh .b:Xm=Э|pwA&!Q)=V!skx16dm^KtjE0 K:޻H-g!>ޱnkNssW _c4| xa>s26\=ƣo@,ilm̚;ptTT@ܒ Ьd > 8|x/drƛpQUo}OZv#Ğ.pȚp;GX+YS-5=Q\}WWO1ФD3 v} 0$rǰa2Otnk6u #7 |$dX*RnS0PřzHGMDq -Fp;i9  !aOF8ɴG0 rloO7dӞ;1~/XDί55pAE~]Ϥ wCϮ)t4F\/Ļ(l+q[L]m— H 4;ÑNJlIzjyc`w L_|Oej@JyO(OpBb;Fڋsgdq\f!3yJx L 焫PpY{ڀ֓xi=a+(M͜Xv]I$dO2w#x݌)0 hNR 3^Q,`QBg v\1Gp&K^޼ s>3V&T;0kE<@ӂ{t~ݱf}iwr͊[`xan}ʈQ?Ipe ,~;wy?3v XVtkqu); 61ŖЈ?)v|(X` ?b4P& KM-"JEU8I:gȞ? !ۄa¬`-es n[N >W#*XU ԵRw,^r-= UH3̑U|lr ;Ʈ;tOK(qrǔAv3# o9Јh>]NpDOԄnfi bE c8OV4<u:u$470xٵDH򇁫FNl=8] %LN@isivh**X-1g< @ 6Y! hl tmTo j0HЁՅ|Ҟbߗ0$(k3:pe|CDr[Ddn7]=@|'1ϣCeo89ԑ6bv%2޷Z̝잱mRzaђ^),*%*Y}Q 腫I7=ep=T(98V]a@증\2payޟ䒳2<LPl>3W@Ԙ9n e~h }x15N9?CzIac-"wEB2tt%mNe97"c@/Y1 ,qG=T8^Y4*|~Gz`Jq()V1Yʍb`]9RS{qx3h{x"j* ,i%d'|OR.]c8O\(b'()i5Ve!Ofc x/ 5TFKsjA"L!lȂ-GׁmiVX\/vp*V2+ka㧁Bn~U&́mvo N)xf,l>}Rv V D)bW)[^Oh'3 59X%I }A#.^iKH=AÇEQF)Z40%[bX) RD71a;z0KnB3)~dy\{e ؆d7 vyqVΕ&6s-ك bZMpEgbPpf"g^FVIҔ0s+4<S픅ģRJnL Jک,A3SUF"ML3\/)&UP M -=*[s;DYSOһ ٴaEsYbXboS iY=ܛZ bݕh|j AbP?Z9AunIT`qx2uj=W\x`Kd/66{ִMRCX EtP ˴86;xcPcoGVqL+xnI#%#ry{Ζ"ʦ&&j. 99& Դ{{7LgvS^lpN;='X%@pp73$K%KS]_UBp?9SpIGh ,?mKJ0/+%#.'@իZH\w9 <2XA3;3.PZtII fZvq|:Gה-RVTM_)YlAVϸ4B'GLY:4*qo"{Fb`h}'7uW7P"l7:d G߬!Hn]>2?h' IJ18v܂Or}lhɟI 6n4f>n:N< P{ @Zٜu4kvIf BvNʧqs3qph= #E3,>͝*Z,vkzWKse:Nmq(MK^Q)L3 Y2klnW*. ǞͫOc'4i3nvҞjr]K,ЬW`\'=Z20+1#0T*ʫ # ق+ʑ.Aq&OB"Yd:O;7%!c^:l&J;`4s|q N*eͯI5lƱ<>aiw>.9d{X)uY#i`Uגtl->nSw]`<|4JN} }0!X(CU1.'Zz&\sEA(\(R{{osaS^RdrZ:Ne׎*" Rz"%;zX}gI81\ 7ٲnqƼv $ΐ idR݅i$ι6n~5Dl}JWjD l/*_YobDR@oJl\*]XYv@ȍ6jѸ4_ aXd4YtxiW6`rzK![%=&ˊ`k\$iš](q^Ɛ?uj3ƺ?8(o& =>gjgU9+o!vlr w=7jT`c#SlBE-$Fxe jk(9yLߩcSJ93RYDŽqdE2ixڼC/GN ' Q䟋(kU:_"uJNJ[$aH]eZc3 Vn(%)%<pU` i BRͳIa^cɎ,MKG](e`M`St2.)_GY):kWgoW:cC܋hDTֶ.f )><(ov6>O ڵz]@Cc<=j#-DNIrQ{'x๛)*7A溚)w{ B?m;T!CgՄOMo&O`+:A3#~l!+⌔ ] .oie_SxN%X8er3cFU4MrGFPd DGu]6=+d+eU~G1`AQ.,)ggؔqN+ k`yr6j 7 MLrt9vϋhiMf-TM%>;0p`/+ zjۇ82FrVc̳\ n~Pmݕh4{a䶹M2O+B_H; H!UQMn+P/2ԇJ5OfHI&f>xb7IYJ4ChUsP0?J$wkoWS l` JzZI40#RU~KK MU#Ӛ[&JtQ|:4(C8hvԪdXNI$MVy,+WBʒÕnno&]n>X^#tN98c5{N۳){Z|://-q7=-|KoR}8 gH]9J̹CZe^C\AV>Y%֪K^ey = <[yPȾ/1 zY^$֞Sha3f-KY;}_Tۿ&f2_{GF!sx/ą2hgP}zk퐄^\qƱ6uNp=Wh}nPR{`p,X'J'7Oz!LU_$D mUpꟓu Z:CEeU hȃ `znmht˱Rg;BIw4ɫpy"YpUd'y8(uc^/fyP6;1 :Zk ȣNxW{#;a X|q X.FJzij0d=%Rl&|VH帮5X.l\7J6^"*LNn]8cr0{VU;6 k)􍜩&ѷ[TG{gǮ$@7ǩ$fVh%#?Q}іJOz)6ޢ]i& 5WDύJ^Qꉖ9?6_3zDY(NzZrk߸hB=RDۖ\#9o BWv |תL\@jER9IJ`ZFVeI[/7 D 6Z/h)Z_#ϝ;ĀB&s>zX?_^ 98zGO˛{J 9JHRYYua']4Éjۨ1:ӻ.A cwJӉFxY#C=%&WkX0V,,qiaZ)֒7LlST/$'J>yFۄ aC[oj.~N#yZ7 O!"c7)d%VvWOw@ 3an>vV3WZ˫zC_X sr/@Jr2m jxhz)'l2sxZڧh, ,;>W2L4"Ofo˝?0L"ٙ3z.E{o{\\nyy_Xk؀ѤK_G)*fC*)~b8L
    Enjoying the preview?
    Page 1 of 1