It is May 1977, a quiet house in the English Cotswolds. Emily,an emotionally fragile,gentle, nature-loving girl, is approaching her eighteenth birthday. Her father, Martin, has become worried about her since the death of her mother, as she has begun to walk in her sleep and says she sees her mother’s ghost. When Martin gets the chance to join his friend Barnaby on an archaeological dig on Crete, he welcomes Emily’s suggestion that she and her older brother David join him out there. Staying with their father’s Greek friends, Emily and David are introduced to the thoughtful young son of the family, Petros, who is prepared to go along with David’s constant quest for fun and girls but who falls in love with the shy, distant Emily. When the siblings notice a mysterious island in the bay, now deserted and a source of superstitious fear among the local villagers, David is eager to explore it, despite Petros’ warnings, but Emily feels afraid and troubled. Eventually the island draws them in, and soon Manolis, a local fisherman who is obsessed with the island for his own reasons, leads them all into a terrifying adventure. The story winds its way through Cretan labyrinths to a strange and surprising conclusion. 
Suitable for age 16+ Some mild sexual scenes and one violent scene

The Glass Madonna is created by Loretta Proctor, an eGlobal Creative Publishing Signed Author



The Glass Madonna

Manolis led the way into the sanctum where the dead Polixeni sat in splendour upon her throne. They had stayed silent on the way there, each preoccupied with their own thoughts. Now Manolis stopped at the entrance and looked at the huge stone, now pushed aside, with some surprise. 


He shook his head. 'You kids amaze me.'


Opening the wooden door, he shone his torch into the room lighting up the mummified cadaver. The other two watched him, mesmerised by the surreal image before them. Yet they both felt that there was something almost noble about Manolis at that moment. He was no longer an ageing, rough, ill-educated man but had an air of dignified strength and tenderness. 


He knelt down at the doorway and said, ''I have to do this, mana mou, have to disturb you. You've guarded the secret well all these years. But after all this, I swear to bury you with Alexis.'


He made no move to enter the chamber but called Emily over.


Chapter 45: Winding through the labyrinth