The Island

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'This is one of the most touching, gripping and inspiring books that I have ever read. Hislop seamlessly weaves an accurate history of a Greek island with a forbidden love story' Real Reader Review, ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐

INSPIRED BY TRUTH, THE STORY THAT HAS CAPTIVATED THE WORLD.

This was not the start of a short trip to deliver supplies. It was the beginning of a one-way journey to start a new life. Life on a leper colony. Life on Spinalonga.

Fifty years later, making a life-changing journey of her own, Alexis Fielding feels the pull of the abandoned island. A distant shadow off the coast of Crete, she knows it holds the secrets of her mother's past, buried for so long but surely not forgotten . . .

Discover for yourself why 10 million readers and critics worldwide love Victoria Hislop's books . . .

'Passionately engaged with its subject . . . meticulously researched' The Sunday Times

'Hislop carefully evokes the lives of Cretans between the wars and during German occupation, but most commendable is her compassionate portrayal of the outcasts' Guardian

'A page-turning tale that reminds us that love and life continue in even the most extraordinary of circumstances' Sunday Express

'The story of life on Spinalonga, the lepers' island, is gripping and carries real emotional impact. Victoria Hislop . . . brings dignity and tenderness to her novel about lives blighted by leprosy' Telegraph

'Vivid, moving and absorbing' Observer

'A deeply moving, captivating, humane and beautiful story of enduring love, and life' Real Reader Review, ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐

'The most powerful and gripping story I've ever read!' Real Reader Review, ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐

'An intriguing and unusual story that keeps you turning the pages . . . The descriptions of Crete are beautiful, and you can just imagine yourself there with the blue sea and sun shining. It is a triumph in many ways, and a part of history I was unaware of' Real Reader Review, ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐

'Victoria Hislop has created a collection of wholly believable characters woven around the factual history of Spinalonga . . . A gripping and moving tale' Real Reader Review, ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐

*Victoria Hislop's most recent novel, THE FIGURINE, is out now.*

'Adding depth and colour to the story is the description of Cretan life... in particular, the vividly detailed account of life on Spinalonga... It is one of the achievements of this thoughtful novel that it presents the lives of the island's inhabitants with such empathy. The result is a fascinating work that combines a moving love story witha plea for more understanding about this most cruel of diseases'
At last - a beach book with a heart... Meticulous research into Cretan culture...packed with family sagas, doomed love affairs, devastating secrets... She also forces us to reflect on illness, both the nasty, narrow-mindedness of the healthy and the spirit of survival in the so-called "unclean". Her message seems as relevant today as it would have been a century ago
'This is a vivid, moving and absorbing tale, with its sensitive, realistic engagement with all the consequences of, and stigma attached to leprosy, elevating it beyond holiday literature'
'War, tragedy and passion unfurl against a Mediterranean backdrop in this engrossing debut novel' You magazine
'Gently gripping tale'
'Brings dignity and tenderness to her novel'
'A promising debut' Grazia magazine
'A page-turning tale that reminds us that love and life continue in even the most extraordinary of circumstances' Sunday Express
'Hislop's deep research, imagination and patent love of Crete creates a convincing portrait of times on the island... A moving and absorbing holiday read'
'Passionately engaged with its subject...the author has meticulously researched her fascinating background and medical facts'
A moving and atmospheric tale
'Wonderful descriptions, strong characters and an intimate portrait of island existence'
'A page-turning tale...reminds us that love and life continue in even the most extraordinary of circumstances'
Hislop's deep research, imagination and patent love of Crete creates a convincing portrait of times on the island. She writes evocatively of the minutiae of traditional life... She...manages to milk the dramatic potential of each unexpected twist and broken engagement, of the ruined and resurrected lives of her characters... A moving and absorbing holiday read that pulls at the heart strings
'The story of life on Spinalonga, the lepers' island, is gripping and carries real emotional impact. Victoria Hislop...brings dignity and tenderness to her novel about lives blighted by leprosy' Telegraph
'A heartrending tale of love, loss and passion'
'A beautiful tale of enduring love and unthinking prejudice'
'A must-have on every intelligent holiday-maker's beach towel'

The Petrakis family lives in the small Greek seaside village of Plaka. Just off the coast is the tiny island of Spinalonga, where the nation's leper colony once was located—a place that has haunted four generations of Petrakis women. There's Eleni, ripped from her husband and two young daughters and sent to Spinalonga in 1939, and her daughters Maria, finding joy in the everyday as she dutifully cares for her father, and Anna, a wild child hungry for passion and a life anywhere but Plaka. And finally there's Alexis, Eleni's great-granddaughter, visiting modern-day Greece to unlock her family's past.
A richly enchanting novel of lives and loves unfolding against the backdrop of the Mediterranean during World War II, The Island is an enthralling story of dreams and desires, of secrets desperately hidden, and of leprosy's touch on an unforgettable family.