The Ancient Greek art of mosaic is often described as one of the highest expressions of art. Originating in Crete in the third century BC, mosaics have long been treasured for their striking and vibrant presentation techniques which create ordered pictures by using small fragmented pieces of matter. Irini Savvides has created just such a work in her novel Willow Tree and Olive.

The word mosaic, originating in the Greek, means 'patient work of art, worthy of the muses.' As in all works of mosaic art, Savvides strategically uses fragments of shape, texture and colour, forming broken images that, in completion, create a vivid picture with a surreal depth of field.

Indeed, the notion of 'fragments' is central to Willow Tree and Olive in both form and essence. Savvides uses a variety of literary languages to craft an image of a beautiful and lively soul. She shifts between first person, third person, prose, diarised narration, dialogue and letters to craft her vivid portrayal of Olive Alexandropoulos and her powerful journey of personal recovery.

Olive is an singularly courageous and perceptive character with an 'old soul' that seems determined to drive her through the trauma of resurfacing memories of childhood sexual abuse and onwards to a reborn spirit.

Olive's deep and dynamic friendship with fellow student Kerry McLean affords Savvides an ideal tool with which to craft the early stages of her story and bring her protagonist to life. Kerry McLean's introverted realism provides the ideal counterpoint to Olive's extraverted dreaming. It is a friendship that seems the richer for its spanning of Greek and Irish cultures, and is an entertaining and engaging entry point for Olive's migration towards acknowledgment and ownership of her Greek heritage; a migration that ultimately delivers the character into personal renewal. Olive's journey from Melbourne to Greece is a migration not only of cultural awakening, but a journey in which Savvides offers her readers a deeper understanding of the place of culture and heritage in the journey into adulthood.

Savvides' portrayal of Olive's shrewd and insightful mind continues to surprise, and models a compelling character for young readers struggling with their own experiences of culture, faith, fear, pain, or simply the uncertainty of an unknown future. Olive's instincts are good and her spirit unfettered; two qualities aptly demonstrated by an observation of fellow passengers on a bus ride. 'As Olive looked at them, it was hard to decide who was more tired: the farmers, or those who stayed cooped up in a box all day. The difference in their eyes was that the former seemed to look out at the horizon whereas the latter seemed to be staring outwards - but they didn't seem to see very far' (p 195).

Savvides' imagistic fragments poke out from the text and subtext throughout her story, appearing at the outset in shards of shattered Wedgewood plates at a traditional Greek wedding, and reappearing through to the last page. 'What if she herself had stood there in ages past and had come back to piece the fragments together?' (p233), Kerry wonders of her friend.

Kerry's gift to Olive of the tiny book of poetry, Fragments by Sappho, seems to continue the suggestion that one's journey to completeness is an intricate series of disparate moments and perceptions. 'I feel disappointed and confused. Fragments by Sappho falls out of my pocket. I read the lines. They are so lyrical, so beautiful, but incomplete. All that's left is fragments and I do not have the glue to piece them together' (p247).

Like the olive trees that symbolise hope to Savvides' protagonist, this story seems firmly rooted in the fertile soil of her own experiences of culture and relationship. Through Olive's youthful and descriptive eye, Savvides gently sits into place a rich imagery of trees, friendship, and Greek culture and landscape, to piece together fragments of a broken past and create a tale of beauty and wholeness.

Irini Savvides lives in the Blue Mountains outside Sydney. Willow Tree and Olive is her first novel.

Leanne Bensley is a professional freelance writer and editor. She undertakes feature writing, reviewing, editing and content development through her company Telescapes.