A short shelf to take to Paphos.
Bitter Lemons of Cyprus by Lawrence Durrell. Durrell bought a house in the Kyrenia hills in 1953, just as the Greek-Cypriot independence struggle was getting under way. The book is part memoir, part lament for a way of life he could feel slipping away. Indispensable for understanding modern Cyprus.
The Aphrodite Inheritance by Evelyn Anthony. A thriller that uses the Aphrodite cult, the Akamas peninsula and the Paphos coast as its backdrop. Light reading, but pleasingly local.
Aphrodite and the Others by Petros Markaris. A short story collection in which the Greek goddess and her companions wander through modern Mediterranean towns. Useful for the way it reframes the mythology that still attaches itself to Paphos.
Echoes from the Dead Zone by Yiannis Papadakis. A Cypriot anthropologist's memoir of crossing the Green Line and meeting people on both sides. The clearest single account of what division has done to the island.