Akrivi Fragkopoulou, a noblewoman of Naxos and a direct descendant of the Franks, is a real person.

Norton, a cultured and wealthy English aristocrat, leaves behind the absurd conventions of high society, abandons his career, his circle, his country, to come to a place that promises bliss – the Cyclades.

The simple and completely uneducated Akrivi, with her divine beauty and intuitive yet solid knowledge of the world, is the person who will initiate Norton into the new way of life, and the miracle will be accomplished through love.

For Goubinot, the French ambassador to Athens from 1864 to 1868, Greece was, among other things, the place of inspiration for the two novellas in his book, where autobiographical elements intertwine with the narrative, and the plot balances between the real and the imaginary.

(From the presentation on the back cover of the book)