Novels set in Greece have a plethora of iconic landscapes and seascapes to choose from and the setting is often an intrinsic part of the plot. The setting can sometimes even seem like another character in the novel. Some settings are so memorable, they are forever linked with the book. Would Nikos Kazantzakis’ Zorba the Greek be the same without its setting in Crete? The place and characters are so intertwined, it would be difficult to imagine the story set anywhere else.

The following books are also set in Greece and certainly capture the spirit of the country in their unique ways. Add them to your summer reading list.

Good Will Come from the Sea by Christos Ikonomou, translated by Karen Emmerich, originally published in Greek in 2014, garnered the attention of the New York Times and Harper’s Magazine, among other venerable publications, when it was published in English by Archipelago Books in 2019. The collection of blistering, darkly humorous stories that upend the idyllic image of the Greek holiday island follows a group of Athenian friends seeking to escape the paralyzing effects of the Greek economic crisis by moving to an Aegean island in the hopes of starting over. Viewed with suspicion and disdain by the locals, they soon find themselves enmeshed in the same vicious cycle of money, power, and violence they thought they had left behind.

A Separation by Katie Kitamura recounts the story of a young woman who has agreed with her faithless husband to separate. Though it is a private matter, a secret between the two of them, after six months, as she begins her new life, she gets word that Christopher has gone missing in a remote region in the rugged south of Greece, Mani to be exact. She reluctantly agrees to go look for him, still keeping the split to herself. In her heart, she’s not even sure if she wants to find him. As her search comes to a shocking breaking point, she discovers she understands less than she thought she did about her relationship and the man she used to love.

Beautiful Animals by Lawrence Osborne, published in 2017, is set on the Greek island of Hydra where two friends Naomi and Samantha, while on a hike, make a startling discovery- a man named Faoud, sleeping heavily, exposed to the elements, but still alive. Naomi, the daughter of a wealthy British art collector who has owned a villa in the exclusive hills of the island for decades, convinces Sam, a younger American girl on vacation with her family, to help this stranger. As the two women learn more about the man, a migrant from Syria and a casualty of the crisis raging across the Aegean Sea, their own burgeoning friendship intensifies. However, when their seemingly simple plan to help Faoud unravels, they must all face the horrific consequences. In this psychological study of manipulation and greed, Osborne explores the dark heart of friendship and shows just how often the road to hell is paved with good intentions.

A film adaptation of Beautiful Animals is currently in the works, according to The Hollywood Reporter.

The books mentioned above are all available in bookstores and online.