The New Wife by J P Delaney – MALLORCA
Margot by Lisa De Castro – CORSICA
The Optician of Lampedusa by Emma Jane Kirkby – SICILY
Zorba The Greek by Nikos Kazantzakis – CRETE
Prospero’s Cell by Lawrence Durrell – CORFU
Love in Another Time by Lexa Dudley – SARDINIA
Mucho Caliente by Francesca Prescott – IBIZA
The Island of Missing Trees by Elif Shafak – CYPRUS
The Kapillan of Malta by Nicholas Monsarrat – MALTA
The Taint of Midas #2 by Anne Zouroudi – RHODESA novel inspired by Little Women, set around MANCHESTER
Ten Great Books set on MEDITERRANEAN ISLANDS
5th May 2026
Ten great books set on Mediterranean islands.
The Mediterranean Sea is home to thousands of islands, each a distinct mosaic of ancient history and natural beauty. From the islands off Spain to the rugged peaks of Corsica to the sun-drenched ruins of Sicily and Crete, these landmasses have served as the crossroads of civilisations for millennia. They are ideal holiday destinations.
Crystal-clear turquoise waters lap against white-sand beaches in the Balearics, while the volcanic cliffs of Santorini offer iconic vistas. Beyond the aesthetics, the islands are defined by a slower pace of life, olive-scented breezes, and a world-renowned diet. Whether exploring secluded coves or vibrant ports, the Mediterranean islands remain the soul of Southern Europe.
Here are ten of our favourite books set on islands around the Mediterranean.
The New Wife by J P Delaney – MALLORCA
When Finn Hensen gets a call from his sister Jess to say their father has died, neither is heartbroken. Their parents divorced many years ago, after which their father, Jimmy, continued to live a bohemian lifestyle in sun-soaked Mallorca, while his family returned to the UK.
Ownership of his home, a beautiful but dilapidated farmhouse in the mountains, now passes to Finn and his sister. The only problem is that Jimmy recently remarried for the third time, and his new wife, Ruensa, is still living there.
The pair agree that Finn should go to Mallorca and tactfully take possession of their inheritance. When he arrives, however, Finn is surprised to find that Finca Siquia has been completely transformed into a chic Mediterranean bolthole by Ruensa – along with her twenty-seven-year-old daughter, Roze. The Spanish police, meanwhile, are asking awkward questions about Jimmy’s death . . . Are Ruensa and Roze the helpless victims of circumstance? Or will they stop at nothing to get Finca Siquia for themselves?
Margot by Lisa De Castro – CORSICA
Margot has gifted herself with a vacation to Corsica—the fulfillment of a promise made to herself long ago. And she must admit she’s enjoying the solitude that traveling alone brings, even if the indulgence prompts a guilty twinge or two.
Exploring Corsica’s shoreline, museums, and churches, Margot finds herself reflecting on her life and her mortality. Her daughters are grown, and her marriage at this point is best described as comfortable. As she looks back on her past through a series of revealing flashbacks, Margot realizes she’s come to a pivotal moment in time.
A chance meeting with an old boyfriend complicates matters further, igniting half-forgotten passions and memories of her own father’s infidelity—and pleasure, temptation, and guilt combine for her in equal measure. Will these stirrings change the course of Margot’s life, or will they simply ruin the stability she already has?
A delicate unfolding of one woman’s life, Margot is like the sea surrounding Corsica: beautiful, seductive, and capable of dragging the reader into unexpected depths. Author Lisa De Castro brings both Margot and Corsica to vibrant life, seamlessly blending evocative descriptions of Corsica’s weathered, ancient landscapes with Margot’s bittersweet memories—and her possible future.
The Optician of Lampedusa by Emma Jane Kirkby – SICILY
From an award-winning BBC journalist, this moving book turns the testimony of an accidental hero into a timeless story about human fellowship and the awakening of courage and conscience.
‘I can hardly begin to describe to you what I saw as our boat approached the source of that terrible noise. I hardly want to. You won’t understand because you weren’t there. You can’t understand. You see, I thought I’d heard seagulls screeching. Seagulls fighting over a lucky catch. Birds. Just birds.’
Emma-Jane Kirby has reported extensively on the reality of mass migration today. In The Optician of Lampedusa she brings to life the moving testimony of an ordinary man whose late summer boat trip off a Sicilian island unexpectedly turns into a tragic rescue mission.
Zorba The Greek by Nikos Kazantzakis – CRETE
Set before the start of the First World War, this moving fable sees a young English writer set out to Crete to claim a small inheritance. But when he arrives, he meets Alexis Zorba, a middle-aged Greek man with a zest for life. Zorba has had a family and many lovers, has fought in the Balkan wars, has lived and loved – he is a simple but deep man who lives every moment fully and without shame. As their friendship develops, the Englishman is gradually won over, transformed and inspired along with the reader.
Prospero’s Cell by Lawrence Durrell – CORFU
A magical evocation of Durrell’s experiences on Corfu – before WW2. A slow sensuous life style – enjoying the elemental pleasures of daily life under the mythical Greek sun. Local villagers, intellectuals, illustrious visitors, all offer food for thought and stimulating conversation on an island Durrell suggests was the inspiration for Prospero’s island in the Tempest. The title reflects Durrell’s own identification with Prospero, who has achieved a unity of being and has developed artistic consciousness thanks to his sojourn on the island. The first of Durrell’s atmospheric writings about Greece. This book partly provided the basis for the popular TV series The Durrells.
Love in Another Time by Lexa Dudley – SARDINIA
England, 1947. Ellie Montford is sent to boarding school by her cold and distant parents, joining her best friend’s family on their farm for the holidays. She forges a bond with her friend’s brother, Simon, who promises to marry her – but childhood promises may not last…
Sardinia, 1961. Ellie, now a young woman, joins her parents in Cagliari, where her father works for the Foreign Office. Attending classes at the local university she meets Gino, a young professor.
Is he really everything he claims? Or is their love doomed to fail?
Sardinia, 2006. Ellie’s granddaughter Sara is sent by her company to Cagliari. On a night out, she meets Luca, an archaeologist and professor. Their love affair mirrors that of her grandmother and Ginos from over forty years before.
Their happiness is short-lived as Sara finds hints of a long-buried secret which could separate them. Who is Luca, and what is his connection to Gino?
Sara must find the answers before she can find happiness and make her family whole again.
Mucho Caliente by Francesca Prescott – IBIZA
Thirty-seven year old Gemma hadn’t reckoned on being seated next to Latino heartthrob Emilio Caliente on the flight to Ibiza. She’s bravely dismissed her cheating husband’s generous divorce settlement, opting instead for a creatively satisfying, financially independent, bohemian lifestyle on a Spanish island in the sun. Falling in love with a pop music superstar eight years her junior was definitely not part of her plan. Common sense dictates staying away from Emilio Caliente and his cinnamon kisses: his life is in turmoil, his latest single has bombed, the press want to see him naked and his hellacious manager seems increasingly deranged. But surely the chain of extraordinary events that insists on bringing them together is proof that love is oblivious to common sense? Does Gemma dare follow her heart and wish upon a pop star without undermining everything else she set out to achieve?
The Island of Missing Trees by Elif Shafak – CYPRUS
It is 1974 on the island of Cyprus. Two teenagers, from opposite sides of a divided land, meet at a tavern in the city they both call home. The tavern is the only place that Kostas, who is Greek and Christian, and Defne, who is Turkish and Muslim, can meet, in secret, hidden beneath the blackened beams from which hang garlands of garlic, chilli peppers and wild herbs. This is where one can find the best food in town, the best music, the best wine. But there is something else to the place: it makes one forget, even if for just a few hours, the world outside and its immoderate sorrows.
In the centre of the tavern, growing through a cavity in the roof, is a fig tree. This tree will witness their hushed, happy meetings, their silent, surreptitious departures; and the tree will be there when the war breaks out, when the capital is reduced to rubble, when the teenagers vanish and break apart.
Decades later in north London, sixteen-year-old Ada Kazantzakis has never visited the island where her parents were born. Desperate for answers, she seeks to untangle years of secrets, separation and silence. The only connection she has to the land of her ancestors is a Ficus Caricagrowing in the back garden of their home.
The Kapillan of Malta by Nicholas Monsarrat – MALTA
Father Salvatore was a simple, lumbering priest, a kappillan serving the poor Valetta, when war came out of the blue skies to pound the island to dust.
Now amid the catacombs discovered by a chance bomb, he cared for the flood of homeless, starving, frightened people who sought shelter from the death that fell unceasingly from the sky.
His story, and the story of Malta, is told in superbly graphic pictures of six days during the siege. Each of those days brought forth from the kappillan a message of inspiration to keep them going – the legendary tales of six mighty events of Malta’s history which shone through the centuries and gathered them together in a fervent belief in their survival.
The Taint of Midas #2 by Anne Zouroudi – RHODES
Set on a fictional island (Rhodes). For over half a century the beautiful Temple of Apollo has been in the care of the old beekeeper Gabrilis. But when the value of the land soars he is forced to sign away his interests – and hours later he meets a violent, lonely death. When Hermes Diaktoros finds his friend’s battered body by a dusty roadside, the police quickly make him the prime suspect. But with rapacious developers threatening Arcadia’s most ancient sites, there are many who stand to gain from Gabrilis’s death. Our investigator resolves to avenge his old friend and find the true culprit, but his methods are, as ever, unorthodox …
Enjoy our selection of great books set on islands around the Mediterranean!
Tony for the TripFiction Team
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I highly recommend The Kapillan of Malta, especially if you have been there.