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