My story

My interest in the life of Lascarina Bouboulis began during a  chance visit to the Greek island of Spetses in 1984.  From this now quiet island in the Saronic Gulf, Bouboulis, who became known to history as Bouboulina, helped launch the Revolution of 1821 that would free part of Greece from Ottoman Turkish rule.

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Something about this dauntless heroine captured my attention.  It was clear that she could be an inspiration to girls everywhere and that the Greek War for Independence was itself a trove of swash-buckling adventure stories.

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Very little had been published in English about Bouboulis at the time of that visit.  I enlisted my grandmother, an immigrant from Greece, to help me translate a novel about Bouboulina that was written in Greek, so I could learn about this important woman in Greece’s struggle for independence.

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I completed the first draft of a children’s historical novel about Bouboulis, but put the book aside for several decades as I became immersed in my medical career and family life. In 2021, I was finally able to revisit and rewrite the manuscript.

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The book presents complex themes―including the importance of national unity and self-determination, the cascade of horrors unleashed by ethnic hatred, and the limited options open to women for most of recorded history―in a way that makes them understandable to young readers.

 

The reprint highlights the relevance of this heroine’s life to our own times: minor revisions emphasize the themes of nationalism and its potential adverse consequences, self-determination, and the diversity of the Greek population.

 

While the book was written for children and teenagers ages 12 to 18, it will also appeal to people of any age who are interested in the history of modern Greece, the Ottoman Empire, and the usually unrecognized role of women in determining their country’s destiny.

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