Shirley Kay

Kay's book records what is left of traditional village life in Cyprus.

Shirley Kay and her diplomat husband, Jolyon, first came to Cyprus in the late 1980s when their daughter and her family were posted to Episkopi. In more than two decades visiting and living in Anogyra, they witnessed dramatic changes affecting the village which inspired Shirley to write this book and record what is left of traditional village life; a life that had attracted her family in the first place.

Before coming to Cyprus, Shirley spent more than 16 years living in various countries in the Middle East, and has written 15 books on many of the countries in which she lived. She studied European languages at Cambridge University, Arabic while living in Lebanon and Middle Eastern archaeology at the Institute of Archaeology in London. As a late starter, she has found Greek more of a challenge, but exploring the countryside for this book has certainly given her efforts a considerable boost.