A strange book; interesting and well-written but somehow lacking is structure and shape. Powell tells of the discovery (by Arthur Evans) of the Minoan palace at Knossos, Crete, his building of the Villa Ariadne, the various characters she meets over the years following her husband's appointment as manager of the archaeological work there, including the heroic and tragic wartime exploits such as those depicted in Ill Met by Moonlight. But she wanders around and eventually rather than ending the book tails off. ( )