The Island

'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