The Island

By: Victoria Hislop

Narrated by: Emilia Fox

Winner of the British Book Awards, Newcomer of the Year, 2007.
Shortlisted for the British Book Awards, Book of the Year, 2007.

Alexis Fielding longs to find out about her mother's past, but Sofia has never spoken of it. She only admits to growing up in a small Cretan village before moving to London. When Alexis decides to visit Crete, however, Sofia gives her daughter a letter to take to an old friend and promises that through her she will learn more. Arriving in Plaka, Alexis learns that it lies a stone's throw from the deserted island of Spinalonga, Greece's former leper colony. She finds her mother's friend, Fortini, and hears 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. She discovers how secrecy holds them all in its powerful grip.

©2005 Victoria Hislop; (P)2006 Headline Audiobooks

Critic reviews

"At last, a beach book with a heart." ( Observer)
"Passionately engaged with its subject." ( The Sunday Times)