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The Island - Victoria Hislop

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The Island - Victoria Hislop

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The Island

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5 Sep 22nd, 2006 

52 Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful

Advantages:
Clearly written .  Nice progression .

Disadvantages:
Some tragedy but it all might end in something good, is that naive?

Recommendable Yes:

Detailed rating:

Would you read it again?

Story

Characters

Readability

How does it compare to similar books?

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parker-munn

parker-munn

About me:

"Be kind to the Polar Bear, When in the wild, leave him there." First line of "Ursus ...

Member since:13.12.2000

Reviews:33

Members who trust:34

At the time I went to spend my Christmas gift book tokens "The Island" was top of the paperback best sellers and that was why I bought it. The bookseller tried to put me off it, he said it was by that Hislop woman who he thought was the wife of some obnoxious T.V. critic. In fact it's by Victoria Hislop who writes travel features for the Sunday Telegraph, parenting and education for the Daily Telegraph and general features for Woman and Home. I don't know any more about her. It's published by Headline Book Publishing, cost £6.99, ISBN 0-7553-0951-0.
I found a round sticker on it saying Richard and Judy's Summer Read and thought I might have got the wrong thing; the Observer calls it a "beach book" with a heart. I don't hang around beaches in the summer reading nice books at all so I thought this might not work.
The writing style is nice and easy to read. It was difficult to put down. When you realise the action is taking you to Greece's leper colony off Crete you might think there could be no adventure, romance or interest. The action takes you through the most unthinkable situations with a human and heroic life and love story that makes gripping reading!
25 year old Alexis isn't sure about her partner and on holiday wants to go off alone and find out a bit about where her mother comes from, a small fishing village in Crete. Her mother gives her a letter to show an old friend. Her mother never talked about her childhood ever, so in the background there must be secrets to probe. The village of Plaka looks over the sea to an island called Spinalonga. Alexis visits it and finds tumbledown remains of a thriving community. A leper community which existed from 1903 to 1957. The old friend, Fotini, reads her mother's letter and tells her most of the story. A sometimes tragic yet sometimes triumphant story. Painful and harrowing yet infused with positivity. It turns out that Alexis's great grandmother, Eleni, was a teacher who one day contracted the more virulent strain of leprosy from a young pupil whose parents tried to disguise the condition of their child. Both teacher and child have to take the ferryboat to the island of Spinalonga, the regular ferryman to that sad place being Georgiou, Eleni's husband. And in those days they remained on the island until they died, sometimes in great suffering. Much of the story tells about the community on the island, the changes it goes through, the arrival of Athenian lepers with great skills and rebellious intelligence. Alongside this immensely captivating story evolves the stories of the two daughters left behind, Anna and Maria. At some points the tragedy is overwhelming and yet at others there is cause for great hope and rejoicing as people overcome incredible misfortune. Without spoiling the story for you let me say there are secrets, surprises, life, loving care and humanity in this book. The author has skill at producing an authentic Cretan backdrop with colour and texture permeating details in everything from food to clothes, from customs to lifestyles. There is an education in Hansen's Disease (Leprosy) that may take you out of stereotype images that everyone has planted in their consciousness about the world's oldest disease. There is a long look through history including the German occupation and the advances in medical science. This is a long considered look with real human characters in it which is a joy to read and brings hope into the equation where there was just hopelessness.
 

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Comments about this review »

n13roy 31.08.2007 08:33

Really well written, detailed and very informative review there indeed...........Roy.......

sweetdaisy 10.02.2007 18:12

Great review xx

gizmogizmo 09.01.2007 17:12

Having visited Spinalonga many times I loved this book.

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More reviews »

The Island - Victoria Hislop - review by catsholiday

Advantages: Easy to read, inteesting story with lovely setting
Disadvantages: Not a lot of action if you want that in the book - for me none

The Island - Victoria Hislop - review by catsholiday catsholiday 14.07.2009 · Read review
Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful
Review of The Island - Victoria Hislop

The Island - Victoria Hislop - review by laukez88

Advantages: Good escapism
Disadvantages: hackneyed plot, not believable

The Island - Victoria Hislop - review by laukez88 laukez88 26.10.2009 · Read review
Ciao members have rated this review on average: helpful
Review of The Island - Victoria Hislop

The Island - Victoria Hislop - review by Wisegirl

Advantages: A fantastic Read
Disadvantages: Only that it is hard to put down !

The Island - Victoria Hislop - review by Wisegirl Wisegirl 20.02.2007 (20.02.2007) · Read review
Ciao members have rated this review on average: helpful
Review of The Island - Victoria Hislop

The Island - Victoria Hislop - review by Crowdpleaser

Advantages: A thought provoking and entertaining Read
Disadvantages: Richard and Judy Book Club tag might put people off!

The Island - Victoria Hislop - review by Crowdpleaser Crowdpleaser 20.10.2006 · Read review
Ciao members have rated this review on average: helpful
Review of The Island - Victoria Hislop

The Island - Victoria Hislop - review by AliGrace

Advantages: Satisfying and invites the reader to feel an array of emotions throughout.
Disadvantages: Finishing it, I had no other books with me!

The Island - Victoria Hislop - review by AliGrace AliGrace 07.02.2009 (07.02.2009) · Read review
Ciao members have rated this review on average: helpful
Review of The Island - Victoria Hislop



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