Set on the author's native Aegean island of Skiathos, these twelve stories capture the folkways of Greece. With acute observation of daily activities and loving descriptions of land and sea, Papadiamantis portrays the beauty and harshness of traditional island life. His prose captivates a reader with its rich combination of realism and symbolism, sensuality and mysticism, insularity and universality. Written near the turn of the century, these works speak today in ways both remarkable and familiar.