A beautiful yet tragic story - fascinating read (The Island - Victoria Hislop)

Member Name: gypsykat77

Product:	The Island - Victoria Hislop
Date:	28/07/09 (19 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Beautifully and accurately written

Disadvantages: None

The author is Victoria Hislop, an award winning British author who worked in publishing and as a journalist before becoming an author.

Her first novel was this particular one - The Island, and what a way to start!!It has been hailed as "the new Captain Corelli's Mandolin, was a Number 1 Bestseller in the UK, its success in part the result of having been selected by the Richard and Judy Book Club for their 2006 Summer Reads.

It was because of this recommendation that I decided to read it, and after reading the info on the back was to be honest a little put off. I didnt really see any enjoyment about reading about a leper colony. However I was told to read it anyway by my cousin who said it wasnt as depressing as it sounded! So I gave it a go and am chuffed that I did.
Many people said it had a slow start however I didnt think so, I was gripped from the begininng.

You are instantly transported to Crete where you get drawn straight in to the ambience of the island and then you get to learn about the history of a tiny island situated off Crete called Spinalonga. Now I have been to Crete numerous times and never fancied the day trip to see a leper colony!! But boy do I want to go back now and see it. The history of it is fascinating and you really get to experience what happened during this tragic time when leperacy was rife.
The story is of a girl called Alexis Fielding, who knows nothing about her family's past and has always resented her mother for refusing to discuss it. The only thing she knows is that her mother, Sofia grew up in Plaka, a small Cretan village, before moving to London. She decides to visit Plaka to see the village where her mother was born, Alexis then discovers that the village of Plaka faces the small, deserted island of Spinalonga, which she learnt was Greece's leper colony for much of the 20th century.She then meets a lady called Fotina who tells her for the first time the whole tragic story of her family. She tells her the story of Eleni, her great-grandmother, and of a family torn apart by tragedy, war and passion. She discovers how intimately she is connected with the island and with the horror and pity of the leper colony which was once there, and learns too that the secrets of the past have the power to change the future.

Please please read this book, its truly fascinating and beautifully written. You wont want to put it down and if you are interested in either Greece, History or both then you will absolutely love it.

Summary: A Historical novel with a fascinating story