Lifelines

Searching for Home in the Mountains of Greece

by Julian Hoffman

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Pub Date 24 Oct 2025 | Archive Date 19 May 2025

Elliott & Thompson

Biographies & Memoirs | Outdoors & Nature | Travel

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Description

In the summer of 2000, Julian Hoffman and his wife Julia found themselves disillusioned with city life. Overwhelmed by long commutes, they stumbled upon a book about Prespa, Greece - a remote corner of Europe filled with stone villages, snow-capped mountains and wildlife. What began as curiosity soon transformed into a life-changing decision: to make Prespa their home.

Prespa is a crossroads. Where three countries come together around two huge lakes, where limestone collides with granite and heat-pulsing Mediterranean ecosystems meet their colder, Balkan relatives. Here, languages, wartime histories and rivers converge, and pelicans, bears and people leave their footprints on the water’s edge – next to unexploded bombs.

Lifelines is not only the tale of a courageous leap into a new life, but of seasons punctuated by unforgettable encounters, from a stare-down with a bear surrounded by Spring wildflowers to a deep-winter meeting with fourteen wrens sheltering above a frozen doorway. And into this place encircled by mountains, Julian seamlessly weaves an intricate web of stories – of conflict and possibility; of refuge lost and found; of the wild lifelines that connect us all as we move through the world seeking a home.

Advance Praise

‘A tender, powerful story of love for a place and a way of being, and a bracing call to the barricades - for enemies are closing in. An urgent, important and compelling read’ Charles Foster, author of Cry of the Wild

'Absolutely fantastic. Lifelines is a balm for the soul: simultaneously hyper local and international; attentive to the lives of others, animal and human; Hoffman's writing has never been better, more powerful, more beautiful than here. It is the book we need for these troubling times of closing borders, suspicion of others and biodiversity loss. It deserves to win awards’ Stephen Rutt, author of The Eternal Season

‘Awakens every sense - Lifelines will tilt you towards the wonder of nature. Written with wisdom, love and a protective quality that soars, this is a beautiful and important gem’ Hannah Bourne-Taylor, author of Fledgling

'Julian Hoffman’s writing is knockout beautiful, perceptive, sensitive, thoughtful, beguiling, deeply smart, full of humanity, and a Lifeline in itself’ Keggie Carew, author of Dadland and Beastly

'Julian Hoffman’s Lifelines is quite magical. He observes the world around him with such sensitivity and he brings to every natural encounter - be it a Greek landlord, a moth, a Juniper tree or a brown bear - a child's sense of wonder and respect ... Lifelines is a book that will refresh your soul' Carol Drinkwater, author of The Olive Farm

‘A tender, powerful story of love for a place and a way of being, and a bracing call to the barricades - for enemies are closing in. An urgent, important and compelling read’ Charles Foster, author...