The devastation of World War I approaches its end. The island of Skyros sits in the eye of a political storm: the nation of Greece is torn apart by internal strife; the fate of the Hellenic World hangs in the balance as the victorious Entente is carving up the Ottoman Empire; and a mysterious epidemic — called the Spanish Lady — crashes in on Greece’s vulnerable shores. That fall of 1918, Michel Sadlier is a young hospital ship porter, initially bound for the battle of Gallipoli, who has escaped to Skyros after a scandalous dalliance with the notable poet Rupert Brooke. In that remote place, Michel faces the ghosts of his past while navigating another turbulent relationship with the stricken son of an English Naval officer. Searching for a place to call home in a foreign, war-sieged land, Michel must come of age at a time when there was no such thing as coming out, and his particular brand of affection was considered elicit and criminal. But following his heart, the boy hopes love will find a final refuge amid the Cliffs of Achilles.
