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Mary Black was born in Herakleion, the largest city in Crete. Her earliest literary influences came from the Greek fairytales she heard, and the works of the Brothers Grimm, Hans-Christian Andersen and Antoine de Saint-Exupéry. Later influences included Jules Verne, Honoré de Balzac, Fyodor Dostoevsky and Alexandros Papadiamantis, their works read in a home full of the music of Mozart, Gershwin and Manos Hadjidakis. Captain Nemo, the Young Prince, and Hansel and Gretel became her companions. They formed the material from which she drew her stories for children.
Mary studied music and political science. For a number of years she wrote opinion articles for the local newspapers of Herakleion, and she began travelling to the places she describes in her stories. The first four books in the series The Time-machine Diaries are Travels in Time: Minoan Crete, Venetian Crete, The Battle of Crete and Alexander the Great. They have been published in Greek by the Herakleion Municipality Press and have been translated into five languages. Three more books will soon go to press: The Trojan War, fantasy adventure The Magic Bible, and A Child’s Dream-Travels.
Reviewed by Michelle Stanley for Readers' Favorite
Travels in Time: Venetian Crete is a children’s book by Mary Black. Four time-travelling friends - Kostantis, Nikolas, Irene, and Alex - are disappointed when the time machine discovered by Alex’s grandfather transports them to Venetian Crete instead of the future, where they belong. However, archaeologist Ariadne, their uninvited companion, is thrilled. She yearns to change historical events but needs the machine to do that. The group stays at an inn, giving Ariadne the opportunity to steal the device and disappear. The innkeeper’s daughter, Arete, helps the friends find Ariadne, who accuses them of treason and they are imprisoned. Arete’s friend, Bianca, comes to their rescue, but it may be too late. Pietro Longobardo, the governor’s top official, locates them and discovers their identity. Alex and his friends worry about their fate while deceitful Ariadne tries to convince Pietro of her plan.
I have been following the Travels in Time series and have learnt so much about Greek history. Mary Black demonstrates how proud she is of her rich culture in this creative series that is written to educate as well as entertain readers. There are wonderfully sketched illustrations to show how ancient civilizations looked and that was interesting. Mary Black developed her characters nicely. Ariadne is so despicable and self-serving, but the others are likeable and act like typical kids who exchange jokes, occasionally argue, and like to have fun. I liked reading Travels in Time: Venetian Crete and am confident that children will enjoy this exciting historical adventure as well.
