Hislop: The Island
Hislop: The Island
On the brink of her own 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 Fortini, 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…
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Victoria Hislop has powerfully yet tenderly dealt with the cruel fate of those suffering from leprosy in the first half of the 1900’s. The plight of Eleni and her daughters was truly moving, disturbing and I couldn’t put the book down until I found out the fate of all the characters affected. Well worth reading.