***A beautiful 10th anniversary paperback edition that includes a new essay by Victoria Hislop on the impact of this million-copy bestseller.***
‘A moving and absorbing holiday read that pulls at the heartstrings’ Evening Standard
The acclaimed million-copy number one bestseller and winner of Richard & Judy’s Summer Read 2006. Victoria Hislop tells a dramatic tale of four generations, illicit love, violence and leprosy, from the thirties, through the war, to the present day.
On the brink of a life-changing decision, Alexis Fielding longs to find out about her mother’s past. But Sofia has never spoken of it. All she admits to is growing up in a small Cretan village before moving to London. When Alexis decides to visit Crete, however, Sofia gives her daughter a letter to take to an old friend, and promises that through her she will learn more.
Arriving in Plaka, Alexis is astonished to see that it lies a stone’s throw from the tiny, deserted island of Spinalonga – Greece’s former leper colony. Then she finds Fotini, and at last hears the story that Sofia has buried all her life: the tale of her great-grandmother Eleni and her daughters and a family rent by tragedy, war and passion.
She discovers how intimately she is connected with the island, and how secrecy holds them all in its powerful grip…
Praise for The Island. . .
‘A vivid, moving and absorbing tale’
Observer
‘Victoria Hislop . . . brings dignity and tenderness to her novel about lives blighted by leprosy’
Telegraph
‘Wonderful descriptions, strong characters and an intimate portrait of island existence’
Woman & Home
‘War, tragedy and passion unfurl against a Mediterranean backdrop in this engrossing debut novel’
You magazine
‘Hislop’s deep research, imagination and patent love of Crete creates a convincing portrait of times on the island’
Evening Standard
‘A page-turning tale that reminds us that love and life continue in even the most extraordinary of circumstances’
Sunday Express
‘A beautiful tale of enduring love and unthinking prejudice’
Express
In 2018, The Island was awarded a Nielsen Platinum Bestseller Award in recognition of selling over one million copies in the United Kingdom.
*Victoria’s latest novel, THE FIGURINE, is available to order now.*
‘A moving and absorbing holiday read that pulls at the heartstrings’ Evening Standard
The acclaimed million-copy number one bestseller and winner of Richard & Judy’s Summer Read 2006. Victoria Hislop tells a dramatic tale of four generations, illicit love, violence and leprosy, from the thirties, through the war, to the present day.
On the brink of a life-changing decision, Alexis Fielding longs to find out about her mother’s past. But Sofia has never spoken of it. All she admits to is growing up in a small Cretan village before moving to London. When Alexis decides to visit Crete, however, Sofia gives her daughter a letter to take to an old friend, and promises that through her she will learn more.
Arriving in Plaka, Alexis is astonished to see that it lies a stone’s throw from the tiny, deserted island of Spinalonga – Greece’s former leper colony. Then she finds Fotini, and at last hears the story that Sofia has buried all her life: the tale of her great-grandmother Eleni and her daughters and a family rent by tragedy, war and passion.
She discovers how intimately she is connected with the island, and how secrecy holds them all in its powerful grip…
Praise for The Island. . .
‘A vivid, moving and absorbing tale’
Observer
‘Victoria Hislop . . . brings dignity and tenderness to her novel about lives blighted by leprosy’
Telegraph
‘Wonderful descriptions, strong characters and an intimate portrait of island existence’
Woman & Home
‘War, tragedy and passion unfurl against a Mediterranean backdrop in this engrossing debut novel’
You magazine
‘Hislop’s deep research, imagination and patent love of Crete creates a convincing portrait of times on the island’
Evening Standard
‘A page-turning tale that reminds us that love and life continue in even the most extraordinary of circumstances’
Sunday Express
‘A beautiful tale of enduring love and unthinking prejudice’
Express
In 2018, The Island was awarded a Nielsen Platinum Bestseller Award in recognition of selling over one million copies in the United Kingdom.
*Victoria’s latest novel, THE FIGURINE, is available to order now.*
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Reviews
'Adding depth and colour to the story is the description of Cretan life... in particular, the vividly detailed account of life on Spinalonga... It is one of the achievements of this thoughtful novel that it presents the lives of the island's inhabitants with such empathy. The result is a fascinating work that combines a moving love story witha plea for more understanding about this most cruel of diseases'
At last - a beach book with a heart... Meticulous research into Cretan culture...packed with family sagas, doomed love affairs, devastating secrets... She also forces us to reflect on illness, both the nasty, narrow-mindedness of the healthy and the spirit of survival in the so-called "unclean". Her message seems as relevant today as it would have been a century ago
'This is a vivid, moving and absorbing tale, with its sensitive, realistic engagement with all the consequences of, and stigma attached to leprosy, elevating it beyond holiday literature'
'War, tragedy and passion unfurl against a Mediterranean backdrop in this engrossing debut novel' You magazine
'Gently gripping tale'
'Brings dignity and tenderness to her novel'
'A promising debut' Grazia magazine
'A page-turning tale that reminds us that love and life continue in even the most extraordinary of circumstances' Sunday Express
'Hislop's deep research, imagination and patent love of Crete creates a convincing portrait of times on the island... A moving and absorbing holiday read'
'Passionately engaged with its subject...the author has meticulously researched her fascinating background and medical facts'
A moving and atmospheric tale
'Wonderful descriptions, strong characters and an intimate portrait of island existence'
'A page-turning tale...reminds us that love and life continue in even the most extraordinary of circumstances'
Hislop's deep research, imagination and patent love of Crete creates a convincing portrait of times on the island. She writes evocatively of the minutiae of traditional life... She...manages to milk the dramatic potential of each unexpected twist and broken engagement, of the ruined and resurrected lives of her characters... A moving and absorbing holiday read that pulls at the heart strings
'The story of life on Spinalonga, the lepers' island, is gripping and carries real emotional impact. Victoria Hislop...brings dignity and tenderness to her novel about lives blighted by leprosy' Telegraph
'A heartrending tale of love, loss and passion'
'A beautiful tale of enduring love and unthinking prejudice'
'A must-have on every intelligent holiday-maker's beach towel'