Son of Hydra - (The Hydra) by Shelley Dark (Paperback)

About the Book

FJH;1DVG-GR-S;1MBF-AU-N;FV;FRX;NHK;JBFA

Book Synopsis

A powerful historical novel of love, exile and redemption based on the true story of Australia's first Greek convict.

He had everything - power, privilege, a future. One fateful decision cost him his name, his freedom, and everything he thought defined a man.

Sydney, 1829.

Ghikas Voulgaris was born to command - the proud son of a powerful Greek shipping family, raised to believe the world would bend to his will.

But one impulsive act during the Greek War of Independence changes everything. His punishment is swift and public: exile to the raw penal colony of New South Wales, half a world away from his island home, stripped of name and status.

In Australia, the man who once dreamed of his own fleet now tends another man's sheep and takes orders like a servant. His fellow workers don't care who he was. And Mary - a fierce Irish orphan who will bow to no man - is everything he doesn't want in a woman, and the one person who can see who he might become.

Ghikas believes he'll survive his sentence, return home, and reclaim his birthright.

But the real fight is just beginning, not against chains, but against himself.

Inspired by a true story, Son of Hydra is a sweeping tale of love, loss, and redemption, a powerful blend of Greek and Australian historical fiction that explores pride, punishment, and what it truly means to be a man.

Review Quotes

"High stakes action, sweeping landscapes and a spirited love story-Son of Hydra has it all. From riches to rags, to riches of a different kind, Ghikas emerges as the anti-authoritarian hero Australians love best."

-Kyra Geddes, author of The Story Thief.

"As cinematic as Master and Commander, as heartfelt as Captain Corelli's Mandolin."

-Peter Barber, internationally awarded and bestselling author of the Parthenon Series.

"Dark's masterly portrayal of their companionship and brotherhood is rendered with such intimacy... that Hydra itself seems to pulse through their speech."

-Dean Kalimniou, poet, essayist, columnist Neos Kosmos

"Dark's vivid prose, attentive characterisation and commitment to ethical storytelling combine to produce a work that honours the complexity of the past without succumbing to nostalgia or triumphal mythmaking."

- Dean Kalimniou, poet, essayist, columnist Neos Kosmos

"A transportive and beautifully written story that needed to be told."

-Yvette Manessis Corporon, international bestselling author of Daughter of Ruins

"Once you start reading Son of Hydra, you cannot put it down."

-Heraklis Kalogerakis, Vice Admiral Hellenic Navy (retd)