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Victoria Hislop
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The Island Kindle Edition

by Victoria Hislop (Author) Format: Kindle Edition
4.3 4.3 out of 5 stars 15,764 ratings
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A number one bestseller in the UK, this captivating and epic tale of family ties, romance, war, disease, and history is set on the beautiful Greek Island of Crete.

On the brink of a life-changing decision, Alexis Fielding plans a trip to her mother’s childhood home in Plaka, Greece hoping to unravel Sofia’s hidden past. Given a letter to take to Sofia’s old friend, Fotini, Alexis is promised that through Fotini, 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. Fotini at last reveals 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. Alexis discovers how intimately her family is connected with the island, and how secrecy holds them all in its powerful grip.

Atmospheric and captivating, The Island transports readers and keeps them gripped to the very last word. 

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  1. Print length
    482 pages
  2. Language
    English
  3. Sticky notes
    On Kindle Scribe
  4. Publisher
    Harper Paperbacks
  5. Publication date
    October 13, 2009
  6. File size
    973 KB
  7. Page Flip
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  8. Word Wise
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  9. Enhanced typesetting
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  1. ‘If we do not want to allow the world to sink into chaos, we must release the love which is trapped in the heart of all humans,’ Kazantzakis had said.
    Highlighted by 99 Kindle readers
  2. Like any collection of family photographs, it was a random selection that told only fragments of a story. The real tale would be revealed by the pictures that were missing or never even taken at all, not the ones that had been so carefully framed or packed away neatly in an envelope.
    Highlighted by 98 Kindle readers
  3. The sun rose, the moon saturated the night sky with its silver light and the stars blazed, indifferent to the events happening below them.
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Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Travel writer Hislop's unwieldy debut novel opens with 25-year-old Alexis leaving Britain for Crete, her mother Sofia's homeland, hoping to ferret out the secrets of Sofia's past and thereby get a handle on her own turbulent life. Sofia's friend Fortini tells Alexis of her grandmother Anna, and great-aunt Maria. Their mother (Alexis's great-grandmother) contracted leprosy in 1939 and went off to a leper colony on the nearby island of Spinalonga, leaving them with their father. Anna snags a wealthy husband, Andreas, but smolders for his renegade cousin, Manoli. When philanderer Manoli chooses Maria, Anna is furious. Conveniently, Maria also contracts leprosy and is exiled, allowing Anna to conduct an affair with Manoli. Meanwhile, Maria feels an attraction to her doctor, who may have similar feelings. Though the plot is satisfyingly twisty, the characters play one note apiece (Anna is prone to dramatic outrages, Maria is humble and kind, and their love interests are jealous and aggressive). Hislop's portrayal of leprosy—those afflicted and the evolving treatment—during the 1940s and 1950s is convincing, but readers may find the narrative's preoccupation with chronicling the minutiae of daily life tedious. (July)
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

From Booklist

When beloved schoolteacher Eleni is diagnosed with leprosy, she is exiled to the Greek island of Spinalonga. Left behind on Crete are her husband and two beautiful daughters, headstrong Anna and dutiful Maria. Years later, Eleni's great-granddaughter Alexis returns to Crete to find answers to her family's mysteries. Conveniently, a witness to her family history is still alive to tell her—and us—the dark story. The novel is a romantic page-turner, but a little shallow. For example, the Nazi occupation of Crete becomes a plot device to turn the boy next door into a hunk, and, after much tribulation, the good are rewarded and the bad punished. The novel, successful in Britain, will probably be a popular beach read and book club selection this summer. There's little to object to in this historical romp. Block, Marta Segal
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

Product details

  • ASIN ‏ : ‎ B000U913L6
  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ Harper Paperbacks (October 13, 2009)
  • Publication date ‏ : ‎ October 13, 2009
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • File size ‏ : ‎ 973 KB
  • Text-to-Speech ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • Screen Reader ‏ : ‎ Supported
  • Enhanced typesetting ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • X-Ray ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • Word Wise ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • Sticky notes ‏ : ‎ On Kindle Scribe
  • Print length ‏ : ‎ 482 pages
  • Customer Reviews:
    4.3 4.3 out of 5 stars 15,764 ratings

About the author

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Victoria Hislop

Victoria Hislop

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Victoria Hislop is the international bestselling author of The Island and The Return. In the United Kingdom, she writes travel features for The Sunday Telegraph, The Mail on Sunday, House & Garden, and Woman & Home. The Island sold over a million copies in the UK and has been translated into 24 languages. Victoria’s second novel, The Return, has been published in more than a dozen languages. She lives in Kent, with her husband Ian and their two children.

Customer reviews

4.3 out of 5 stars
4.3 out of 5
15,764 global ratings
Exceptionally we'll written.....
5 Stars
Exceptionally we'll written.....
We had just returned from a visit of this Island (Spinalonga) during a Greek Cruise....It was great to discover the history of this fascinating place that we had never heard of prior to our visit and the subsequent good read.
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Top reviews from the United States

Ana I. Anton, Ph.D.
5.0 out of 5 stars Compelling story, beautifully written.
Reviewed in the United States on July 17, 2023
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A beautiful story. A wonderful read for anyone who appreciates historical fiction. I'm grateful for what I learned about Spinalonga, and the book piqued my interest in digging deeper into the history and the disease. Do read before traveling to Crete to deepen your appreciation for the people and history of both islands.
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4.0 out of 5 stars Flawed, but beautiful
Reviewed in the United States on May 21, 2016
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The description of settings and characters was great. I would characterize the novel as a historical account of two islands or one small island off Crete and three towns on Crete. The history is told by focusing on one family and their friends. I wish I had known this from the outset as it is customary for a fiction novel to introduce the main characters in the first chapter. The characters introduced are in the present with Alexis traveling to Crete with her boyfriend of five years, Ed. As much time is spent on whether Alexis needs to end the relationship as on her desire to learn of her mother's mysterious past. This reader, therefore, expected a relatively short exposition of the family history before a return to the present. Instead, Alexis, Ed, and mystery mom are minor characters with major characters Alexis' ancestors.

The effect of the WWIII on the islands and its inhabitants intervenes, although not through the eyes of the major characters.

While, in principle, the friend of Alexis' mother tells the story of the past, in fact it is a flashback as the narrator relates feelings and facts which couldn't have been known to the storyteller. Once I settled into what the novel was about I enjoyed it and felt immersed in Crete and Spinalonga's history.

The overall plot was very good, but there were simplistic and illogical elements which detracted from the stories. 1) A murder is committed in a setting where the perpetrator was bound to be caught. What the reader knows about the perp is that he would have not cared to live the rest of his life in prison. Further, he should have enjoyed seeing the victim understand why she was to lose her life, but she is shot before she can blink. 2) A group of new lepers manage to turn Spinalonga into a town better than ones on Crete in a short amount of time. This, after considerable effort by the previous residents to attain enough clean water and a working generator of electricity. 3) With a motive which can't stand the light of day, a main character abruptly changes her mind about marrying. Her husband to be immediately understands, and there is no discussion. More ink is given to the characters' cleaning of her house. 4) Alexis' mother jumps on a plane within 24 hours to travel across the ocean to finish the story being told by her friend, and returns home almost immediately. 5) The reader is intended to sympathize with Alexis in her relationship with Ed, but she abandons him on her trip, not only doesn't communicate beyond saying she is staying overnight, but turns off her phone when she decides to stay even longer. Then after her return, she leaves a brief note and takes off with the rental car to return home. These are minor points in an otherwise wonderful saga.

The point of view is omnisicent and the author pulls off head hopping beautifully. The narrator comes off as a bit puritanical, perhaps mirroring the more's of the time or a justification for Alexis' mother keeping her past from Alexis. They don't fit Alexis' point of view, however. In fact, deep dark secrets rarely are as deep and dark as a reader imagines.
4 people found this helpful
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patrick e bates
5.0 out of 5 stars Great Story, Well Written
Reviewed in the United States on September 12, 2015
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"The Island" Victoria Hislop

I approached this novel a little wary, a little nervous that I would not like it. Boy, was I surprised ...and immensely pleased. The story is great, the writing is great, the characters are great, the scenery is great, ..., just plain "Wow, and boy, am I pleasantly surprised."

I usually enjoy historical fiction and this one was particularly good reading. I can't tell you exactly why this novel did it for me. There's so much going on, there are a lot of great characters. But all those characters don't seem to get mixed up in some jumbled mass of storytelling that sometimes happens. The author keeps the story going well and keeps the reader closely involved.

If there was any complaint, it was with the very, very first part dragging just a little bit. Don't worry, it's not for long, and it's well worth reading when you get to the end. Great story!

The author's writing talent just kept me reading ...and kept the story enjoyable and interesting. What more can we ask of an author? It was great storytelling. Anyone who likes historical novels should check this out, I highly recommend it.

Patrick
One person found this helpful
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Amazon Customer
3.0 out of 5 stars Three and a half stars
Reviewed in the United States on April 25, 2013
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I read this book just before traveling to Crete for a vacation and wanted to get some background. For my purposes it was a good idea because it created a picture of the Cretan people in my mind that was born out in reality. The story of Spinalonga is very interesting in itself and the historical context for this part of its history is of paramount importance to the people of Crete. Their history has been replete with war and occupation and resistance all of which have contributed to their feeling of independence and pride of place. Many small villages have monuments to the resistance fighters during WWII and the atrocities visited on their families as a result. The island of Spinalonga is now a very popular tourist destination because of this book but also because of archeological interest in its buildings. There was even a very popular Greek TV series based on the book, called "To Nisi".

All that aside, the story is a bit melodramatic and the characters are not developed beyond romantic stereotypes. It was hard for me to imagine a woman, even in the 50's, turning down a chance for happiness after having suffered for years in isolation, in order to care for her able-bodied father. However, while on Crete I learned that family is everything there, even today, and I can see how in her day she might have made that choice. I wish the writing had been a little less formulaic and the characters a bit more human and accessible. Nevertheless, the story moves right along and it provides some very interesting insight to Cretan culture and a reminder of a disease that was so terrifying and misunderstood, but is now seldom heard of.
22 people found this helpful
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Joyce P.
5.0 out of 5 stars Very good book
Reviewed in the United States on November 22, 2023
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Great book and excellent story. Ties in the leper colony in Greece with its characters. Good read
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Top reviews from other countries

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Tiffanygirl
5.0 out of 5 stars Book Club book
Reviewed in Canada on January 6, 2024
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Really enjoying this book and so interesting.
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Sara Valla
5.0 out of 5 stars Un viaggio coinvolgente attraverso il tempo e la cultura a Creta
Reviewed in Italy on April 20, 2024
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Se c'è un libro che può trasportarti in un viaggio coinvolgente attraverso il tempo e la cultura, "The Island" di Victoria Hislop è una scelta ispirata.
Con una narrazione avvincente, l'autrice ci invita a esplorare la bellezza e le tragedie di una piccola isola greca, cullata dalle onde del Mar Egeo: Spinalonga.

Vivendo io a Creta nel Golfo di Mirabello, dove si trova Spinalonga, ho scritto una recensione più approfondita sul blog TheCreteYouDontKnow
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Sara Valla
5.0 out of 5 stars Un viaggio coinvolgente attraverso il tempo e la cultura a Creta
Reviewed in Italy on April 20, 2024
Se c'è un libro che può trasportarti in un viaggio coinvolgente attraverso il tempo e la cultura, "The Island" di Victoria Hislop è una scelta ispirata.
Con una narrazione avvincente, l'autrice ci invita a esplorare la bellezza e le tragedie di una piccola isola greca, cullata dalle onde del Mar Egeo: Spinalonga.

Vivendo io a Creta nel Golfo di Mirabello, dove si trova Spinalonga, ho scritto una recensione più approfondita sul blog TheCreteYouDontKnow
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journojohnson
5.0 out of 5 stars Great historical read
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on October 1, 2022
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I wish I'd found Victoria Hislop before, she is amazing. Her characterisation is brilliant and having recently visited Spinalonga and Crete, which is what 'the Island' is about, I found it easy to visualise the place she describes. However, you could read this book without having visited either place, her descriptions are very clear. Her grip of history is also very good, I know I could learn a lot here. She manages to tell a very gripping and page-turning adventure entwining the history beautifully in the story. The story is essentially about one family, the Petrakis' family and how leprosy visits the family, first with the mother, Eleni and then the youngest daughter, Maria. But this is so much more than a story about a family affected by leprosy and the leprosy community of Spinalonga. It is also about the rebellious older daughter, Anna and her relationships, the courage of the father, Giorgis and his daughter, Maria and how their lives have affected the future generations up to the twenty-first century, as the story begins with Alexis and her quest to find out more about the secrets of her family. It spans the generations of her grandmother and her mother. As Alexis learns about the tragic and complicated tale her own life and that of her mother are changed forever.
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Amazon Customer
5.0 out of 5 stars Für Kreta-Urlaub
Reviewed in Germany on August 14, 2022
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Wunderbar erzählte Geschichte, welche auch die Lebensumstände der Bewohner von Kreta darstellt.
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Vikramjit Mandal
5.0 out of 5 stars Great story will take you to the island of Crete👍
Reviewed in India on November 19, 2020
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It's a wonderful book with so many emotions .. it shows true love is always precious in all situations. If the doctors r not ashamed to treat such disease then civilized people shouldn't feel ashamed to show der support nd feelings for such patients ever.. nice book by Victoria Hislop👍
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