Lifelines Searching for Home in the Mountains of Greece

By: Julian Hoffman

Published by David R. Godine Publisher, 2026-04-14

A book that will refresh your soul."--Carol Drinkwater, author of The Olive Farm: A Memoir of Life, Love, and Olive Oil In the South of France

A story of shelter, generosity and welcome--and a courageous leap into a new life.

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, which they would soon call 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.