"She was a saint, Madame Hortanse. I tell you. I do not know whether she sinned in her youth . . . anyway, let the sinless cast the first stone. But I swear to the cross and my office that she lived a saintly life during her last few years and died a saint, having done so much good to other people…"This is a priest talking, reverend Manolis Tzovalakis who said mass to the church of Timios Stavros at Ierapetra until 1982 . It is he who stood by her death bed to anoint her with holly oil and administer absolution for all her sinful actions she had committed, intentionally or otherwise, in the course of her eventful life. This priest was the last man to see and listen to the legendary concubine, Madame Hortanse, presented by Nikos Kazantzakis in his novel "Alexis Zorbas", was a French national living on Crete and mistress of four admirals of the previous century: Potie (French), Canavaro (Italian), Andreov (Russian), and Haris (English). The Great Powers would dispatch their fleet to Crete on various occasions in the pretext of providing a sense of security to the Christian population. However, they were trying to exploit a politically unstable situation on the island..
It is not only the priest who has vivid recollections and sweet feeling for this "sinful" French lady. It is his wife also, and Amalia, now in her 90's, the bosom friend of Mdme. Ortance. There are old men, too, her past lovers. They remember Mme Ortance with love and affection who spiced their lives with long forgotten feelings at the turn of the previous century. The life of Mme Ortance was an eventful one. She is likened to a female Odysseus who, like Homer's hero, traveled extensively and met with many people and acquired a wealth of experience.

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