Brilliant book read years ago but just had to read it again. Love that it is based in Greece, and i could relate to some of the places

I decided to read this before One August Night & it is superb. The storyline revolves around the leper colony on Spinalonga just off the coastline of Crete. The characters are great and the suffering families endured when someone was diagnosed with leprosy is brought to life in this book. Very well written.

This novel follows three generations of the same family, exploring their difficult times and their celebrations, and portraying how their lives are so intricately linked to the leper colony of Spinalonga. We start in the modern day with Alexis, and are soon transported back in time to her great-grandmother Eleni, who was an inhabitant of the leper colony. The book presents a heartbreaking look into how leprosy was considered at that time and how much it affected the lives of so many people.
The stories of the different characters and generations are seamlessly linked, and for me this was achieved through the character Maria, Eleni's daughter, and the way in which she acts as the central figure. Whilst we follow the story of her sister Anna, it is really with Maria that the heart of the story lies, and she becomes the figure to which the reader is most tied. She handles the difficulties she has to face with grace and heroism, never complaining, and is the stand-out character for me.
This is why the ending of this book is so disappointing - Anna's daughter, Sofia, is brought up by Maria and her husband as if their own child, and yet she completely abandons them when learning of her true parentage, and spends the rest of her adult life (at least, until prompted by her daughter Alexis to reveal the truth) ashamed and embarrassed of her upbringing. The ending feels rushed and unsatisfactory, brushing Sofia's shame aside as she finally embraces her past, albeit too late to make amends with Maria. The character who has represented heroism and strength throughout the whole novel is forgotten about, and never given the respect of a reconciliation with her daughter and this let down what would otherwise be a brilliant novel.

LOVE LOVE LOVE. One of my all time favourite novels, I have devoured every Hislop book but this will forever be my favourite and I cannot wait for the sequel!

Thanks to #NetGalley, the publisher #HeadlineReview and the author #VictoriaHislop for providing me with a digital ARC of #TheIsland in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own and not influenced in any way. This story follows Alexis Fielding in her bid to find out about her mother's past and involves her going to visit Crete. When she arrives there she finds out she is very close to to a former leper colony on Spinalonga. Alexis seeks out a friend of her mother's who reveals the secret. This book was an emotional read and I thoroughly enjoyed it and would highly recommend it. I cannot wait for the sequel!!

I first read this book years ago when it was first published and wanted to read it again before the sequel comes out. I have always said it was one of my all time favourite books and this has not changed during the second reading.
The story is a heartbreaking one as it's is based on true events. Spinalonga, where people with Leprosy are taken by boat to live a life of segregation from the world. They had to fight the government for everything. At one stage there was nothing there, no hospital care,not much food, no beds, etc.
Only through the perseverance of the people living there did that improve.
The book is mainly centered on a family living in 1939 1939, mother, who is a teacher, father, who took people and supplies to the island ,and their two daughters Maria and Anna.
Maria was easy to like throughout the book but Anna was the opposite. She was lazy, selfish, loud and stubborn. The way she treats her family is atrocious and hard to believe.
In present day Alexis is in Crete.on holiday but has her Greek mother's permission to visit her friend in her home village. There she learns the truth of her heritage and the reasons why her mother would never speak about her family and her past.
This story will keep you turning the pages eager to find out what will happen.
I love all of Victoria Hislop's books and I can't wait for the sequel to this one to be published.