I must firstly apologise for the amount of time it has taken me to provide a review of this book, my health was rather bad for quite some time, something that had me in hospital on numerous occasions and simply didnt leave me with the time I once had to do what I love most.

Unfortunately that does mean I have missed the archive date for many of these books, so It would feel unjust throwing any review together without being able to pay attention to each novel properly.

However, I am now back to reading as before and look forward to sharing my honest reviews as always going forward. I thank you f0r the patience and understanding throughout x

I loved the idea of going back to The Island and revisiting all the characters I remember so vividly from a book that has stayed with me ever since I read it. This book delivered on showing us what happened to them but it missed the depth and captivation the first book gave. It almost felt more like we were just reeling through the rest of their lives. I still enjoyed it but I had hoped for a bit more of the magic of the original.

I really wanted to love this as I thought The Island was brilliant but it just didn't hold up to it at all. In comparison, it's a little boring in content and although it's "nice enough" I found it sadly disappointing.

Thanks to NetGalley, Headline and Victoria Hislop for an eArc in exchange for an honest review.

This is my first Victoria Hislop book, and I really enjoyed it. I will be reading more of her books in the future. The writing of this book was superb, and the story was very interesting. I liked the way Victoria described everything so vividly that it felt like I was in the story with all the characters.

The story is set in the past, in Greece, with Maria, Anna and their families. I enjoyed reading about Anna at the beginning of the novel, and then Maria throughout, as well as all the other characters. Manolis was my favourite character, and I liked him because he was so passionate and loving.

This is a lovely book, which transports you to another world and helps you to forget about real life for a while. Highly recommended!

Many thanks to the author, publisher and NetGalley for a copy of this book.

Lovely feel good book to read. It was a joy to read. Lovely characters. Great plot. The book was charming. Very well written. I’d definitely recommend this book

Another stunning read from Victoria Hislop.
Her writing is so vivid and beautiful that she really transports you to the places she writes about. It is a book that really needs to be read. I devoured it in one sitting.

I desperately wanted to love this book as Victoria Hislop always writes great stories and they're not pretty little stories that are all wrapped in a bow either, she pours the passion into her writing. But this one, it took me forever to read, to get started on, to get into and then back into, I found it really hard, I wasn't sure if it's because I wasn't invested with the characters or just sequels don't do it for me or maybe that "The Island" just didn't need anything else to be put into words, I'm not sure, but it just didn't work for me.

Many thanks to Netgalley for the FREE ARC in return for my review.

I loved Victoria Hislop's books and was so excited that she was revisiting Spiralonga in this book. Really enjoyed it and highly recommend!

An engaging follow up to The Island, with the same idyllic Greek setting and focus on the beautifully drawn characters. It works well with the continued focus on the likeable and empathetic character of Maria, but it is quite dark with some shocking twists. The story continues with less focus on the impact of leprosy on the community, and more on how the family moves on. A slow but satisfying saga, it will please fans endlessly.

Firstly, a huge thank you to Headline Review and NetGalley for providing a copy of this novel in exchange for an honest review.

CW: sexual assault, murder

I read Hislop’s The Island back in 2012 when I was seventeen and I completely fell in love with the story and the characters (I even reviewed it way back then, too!). When I discovered that Hislop was returning to these characters after all this time I was so excited to jump straight back into the story. Although I was a little worried that it had been so long since I first read The Island, and that I would find it difficult to follow, I quickly realised these fears were unfounded as I was welcomed back to Crete.

Whilst One August Night is considerably shorter than The Island, there is still a lot to unpack in terms of plot and the complex familial relationships are still illustrated in the same beautiful detail of its predecessor. I really enjoyed the way the novel opens up with Anna and we get to see the family dynamics from her perspective. Compared to the rest of the family, and the characters we got to know in The Island, she was so different and felt like an outsider which was a great way to be reintroduced to the story. As well as Anna we also focus on Maria which I really enjoyed as she was one of my favourite characters in The Island. She was still as kind and compassionate as when we were first introduced and yet, Hislop still manages to expand on this through her actions that most other people would struggle to do if they were in her situation.

Although this novel is a sequel, it also stands up very well as a standalone story as even characters we have met previously are developed and built upon with very new situations and storylines. In fact, the characters were my favourite aspect of the novel - Hislop has a clear understanding of people as each of her characters are so believable and authentic that you would think that this is a memoir rather than a work of fiction. Through the characters, not only do we see more details about the story through the different perspectives but we’re also completely immersed in a culture that many of us may not be able to experience otherwise.

Overall, in a time where we are unable to travel, Hislop transports us to Crete with such authentic characters and vivid descriptions that you could practically feel the warmth caressing your face as you turn the pages. This is a novel well worth picking up regardless of whether you’ve read The Island or not.

I did open One August Night with huge expectations since I loved The Island so much. It was wonderful to reconnect to the characters again and be immersed in the beauty and culture of Greece again, The plot includes jealousy, betrayal, family feuds and is again a beautifully written and compelling book.

Victoria Hislop sweeps her readers back to beautiful Crete with the sequel to her much-loved modern classic The Island: One August Night.

The island of Spinalonga closes its leper colony on 25th August 1957. This should be a moment of celebration and joy – until a mindless act of violence ends up having devastating consequences for two families who find themselves divided by a vast chasm and the people of Plaka, who will be forever haunted by this horrible tragedy. Anna and Maria are two sisters whose lives will never be the same again. In a heartbeat, their lives had changed forever, but will Anna and Maria find a way forward and a way out of this nightmare they are trapped in? Or should they merely resign themselves to a lifetime of regret, disappointment and heartache?

In the aftermath of this inexplicable tragedy, the islanders find themselves at a crossroads. With the broken pieces of their lives scattered all around them, they must build a new future for themselves. But how? With their futures forever changed by the events of one august night, can they manage to lay old ghosts to rest? Will they continue to be haunted by scandal and stigma? Or will a new dawn bring a whole new array of possibilities for them all?

Victoria Hislop is such a talented writer with a gift for bringing her settings to vivid and colourful life. The sights and sounds of Crete are so exquisitely rendered that readers feel as if they are living the story alongside her characters and One August Night is an astute, dramatic, absorbing and immersive page-turner about love, family and betrayal that will delight Victoria Hislop’s legion of fans and win her a whole host of new admirers.

A beautiful, descriptive story of love, betrayal, and family that sweeps you up and deposits you in 1950s Crete alongside Anna, Maria, Manolis, Andreas, and many others. A lovely novel full of romance, history, and drama.

What a trip back in time! I read The Island when it came out and it left a lasting impression on me of the poor souls who were committed to spend their lives on Spinalonga until the life saving cure was found in the late 50s.

I was happy that Maria found her saviour in the doctor and future happiness. Anna her sister was very different, had always been a wild child and was married to Andreas. Things came to a head one August night when celebrations were underway for the release of the patients from the island. Poor Andreas had discovered some alarming news and what followed that night certainly changed the course of all their lives.

Manolis fled to the mainland with his grief which completely overcame him. He made new friendships though and never returned to Crete.

I have been to Crete and loved the island but unfortunately didnt make it to Spinalonga. A sorry regret.

I found the photo in the afterword of Victoria and a survivor of the terrible disease, particularly poignant. I think I must revisit the first book to refresh my memory.

Thank you netgalley for this Arc. I'm very grateful.

A lovely gentle read with a wonderful cast of characters. I can't believe it's 15 years since I fell in love with The Island. It was so lovely to re-visit Crete, especially as it is currently so hard to travel anywhere in real life. The writing is so wonderfully evocative and I particularly enjoyed Manolis' and Maria's stories.

This particular August night sees not only the ruturn of the cured patients from the leper colony, but is also a witness to a tragedy that will splinter two families apart.

What I really liked in this book is that it so easily mentions and embeds Greek history and traditions into the plot. Also, the writing style is still beautiful, still lyrical and the author manages to capture a little of atmosphere. She can beautifully describe and portray Greece and its people, with tons of adoration and respect and the story is a real escapism.

There are many characters in this story and yes, they blur and I often didn’t know who is who and who belongs to whom – it’s because they so suddenly appeared on the pages, to disappear and to appear again after some time. Yes, it was a bit confusing. They were also, in my opinion, too one – dimensional, so superficial somehow, I missed depth to them and to see what made them tick. I can’t say that it was, even with the number of them, a character – driven story, it was more getting on with the plot and it gives you a very detailed, precise sense of place. I missed any kind of emotions in the characters, to be honest, instead they felt very factual, and it was really Greece that was a worshipped character in this book.

I wasn’t sure, but it turns out I haven’t read „The Island“, the prequel, nevertheless I felt comfortable reading „One August Night“, without a feeling that there was a past. I’ve got enough information to keep me satisfied and up – to – date with the happenings. Nevertheless, based on the synopsis, I thought it will focus more on the closing of the leper colony on Spinalonga, and it barely mentions it. I thought that Maria, being back from the island, as a survivor of leprosy, will be the main character telling us her story, but it’s barely mentioned, actually.

It didn’t feel like a book, to be honest, I had a feeling I’m reading a record of events that happened in Greece throughout a chunk of time, or few short stories randomly combined together. The author didn’t go seamlessly from situation to situation or from dialogue to dialogue, no, it felt more chopped and there could be a day, a week, a month or a year between the happenings that she was writing about in the same chapter. She has also jumped from character to character and I read it with a feeling that, oh, now she has remembered there is this character and she has to write about them, and then oh, and there is still this character, I have to mention them! I’m not sure if I liked it, to be honest, and the way the story was written, with few dialogues and journalistically describing events didn’t work for me. I didn’t feel any connection to the characters. I loved Victoria Hislop’s some previous books and it makes me sad that I couldn’t click with „One August Night“. I wasn’t immersed, I wasn’t pulled into it and it made me anxious, it was never a case with Hislop’s book before. It felt too flat, too forced and too random and the characters were under – developed. Sadly.
However, the book was filled with drama, jealousy, love and betrayal and is full of hope and dreams. The setting of the beautiful Crete was perfect, as well as the beautiful descriptions and the added bonus of history of the times and I’m sure you can get lost in this story for hours

I remember when The Island was published in 2005. I read it in one sitting. I stayed up virtually all night to finish it. Spinalonga was a leper colony off the coast of the Greek Island of Crete. This was the 1940s and 50s, before there was a cure for leprosy. The book followed the lives of people in the village of Plaka and those who were diagnosed were sent away for ever. Even children were sent to live with a ‘new’ family on the island. Parents initially sent them to school in long trousers in case anyone saw the signs of leprosy on their legs. Spinalonga eventually became a community with its own school, church, medical centre and shops.

One August Night continues the story after the cure has been found. Maria Petrakis is one of those who survived. Her mother Eleni was sent to Spinalonga where she died, while her father Giorgios rows the boat back and forth with new exiles and supplies.

It is 1957 and Maria is finally coming home, having been cured. But on the day she arrives in Plaka, there is a terrible tragedy which involves her whole family.

Manolis has always been in love with Maria’s sister Anna to the point of obsession. But Anna is married to his cousin Andreas Vandoulakis. He knows that the tragedy of that day was partly his fault and he must seek a new life away from Plaka and his family. Away from Maria, to whom he was betrothed before she was sent to Spinalonga. Away from Sofia the child who might be his. In The Island it is Sofia’s daughter Alexis who travels to Crete to find out the secrets her mother has been keeping from her about Spinalonga.

The sequel to The Island follows the lives of these people, tied by family, love, tragedy and redemption. We also meet other wonderful people along the way, including Dr Nikos Kyritsis, who was involved in finding the cure, and Kyria Agathi, Manolis’s landlady in Piraeus. They are amongst those who will help Maria and Manolis come to terms with everything that happened. We also still see the stigma and prejudice attached to leprosy even though it can be completely cured. It is a very slow developing disease and if caught early enough leaves no lasting scars.

One August Night is not about leprosy though – it’s about the aftermath of the tragedy on that fateful day and how it affects everyone connected. But the standout story for me is that of Maria, whose ability to forgive is so magnanimous it is hard to understand, but I was full of admiration for her.

Many thanks to @annecater for inviting me to be part of #RandomThingsTours and to NetGalley for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

My thanks to NetGalley and the publishers for this advance copy in exchange for an honest review.

This was my first Victoria Hislop novel, and I picked a winner. As a seasoned visitor to the Greek mainland and Islands, I have great admiration for the Greeks and their culture. The author has shared with readers her knowledge and love in this sparkling story of love, family discord and how individuals deal with their own inner turmoil. A most enjoyable, well researched and written novel. What’s not to like? A little bit of romance intermingled with history in a beautiful setting.

I had read The Island previously and enjoyed it, fascinated by the description of the life on the leper island. This story fills in the gap with colony shutting after a cure has been found. Violence and tragedy mark the happy event marking the return of the residents.
We follow Maria and her family as they come to terms with events, rebuild their lives and try to find meaning in what has happened.
I have to admit this is not up there with The Island. It feels flat and feels like the author had responded to too many requests to fill in the gaps left by the previous book.
This is not a terrible book but I think the expectation is too great that it will recapture the magic of The Island.
Forget the previous book and read it as a standalone novel it will be a good beach read (or try to imagine you are on a Greek beach) and don't go in expecting another Island

I am sure I am not alone as someone who read and loved The Island - but it was some time ago, so I was intrigued to pick up One August Night, the sequel to The Island, after all this time. I was a little bit concerned that so much time had passed, would I remember enough to really enjoy the sequel and would it live up to my high expectations?

i needn’t have worried - it didn’t take me long to remember why I love Hislop’s writing, It is so evocative and transports you to Greece so effectively, and the historical element is added with such a light, but fascinating, touch. Cleverly, Hislop opens the book slightly before the end of The Island, filling in the gaps about exactly what happened, and then goes on to explore the aftermath of the events. She allows us to revisit the characters we got to know and love in The Island and follow their lives as they try to move forward after all that has happened. It is a different book to The Island and less about Spinalonga, but I for one loved the opportunity to hear more about Manolis, Maria, Andreas and Antonis. It’s a relatively short book but it had me swept up while I was reading it - I was absorbed from the beginning and my only minor criticism would be that I would have liked more.