Victoria Hislop

There is an absolutely heartrending section close to the beginning of this book; rarely have I been kept awake so late into the night reading and blubbing alternately.

Unfortunately, I found the remainder of the book rather ordinary in comparison - nothing that really reached the emotional heights of those earlier events. There is a point late on where a character is rushed onto a plane in order to tell her story in person, and I was practically shouting 'Save the cost of a plane ticket - I show more guessed the ending fifty pages ago' show less

Hislop sets The Return amidst the Spanish Civil War, a bloody and fascinating period of the twentieth century—and yet somehow produced a bloodless and flaccid book. She doesn't wear her research lightly, ladling on the exposition with a heavy hand (while still making some mistakes about modern Spain which made me doubt her historical accuracy) which made me find an account of such an important conflict boring. The narrative arc was constructed entirely of clichés, the characters flat and show more undeveloped, the prose leaden, and the ending at once predictable yet unbelievable. Not recommended. show less

Greece has always been one of those places I'd love to see someday. But I, like so many other people, have always focused my future plans on Athens and the major historical sites there without too much thought to the rest of Greece, including the country's second largest city, Thessaloniki, a city with which I was almost entirely unfamiliar. Victoria Hislop's newest historical saga, The Thread, changes that, offering an intimate look at the changing face of the city since early in the show more twentieth century all the way up until today.

Opening with nonagenarians Dimitri and Katerina Komninos meeting up with their grandson, university student Mitsos, and offering him the reason behind their passionate refusal to ever leave Thessaloniki to live near their children in England or America, this is the tale of a vibrant city, a country's history, and an enduring love. Dimitri Komninos is born in 1917 into a thriving Thessaloniki peacefully populated by Christians, Jews, and Muslims. His birth has been long awaited by his wealthy father and his beautiful mother and he arrives just as the Thessaloniki is consumed by a raging fire that destroys nearly the entire city. As his father rebuilds their fabric empire first and eventually the showpiece home overlooking the sea, Dimitri and his mother live on Irini Street, in the humble home in which his mother grew up surrounded by as sorts of different and wonderful people. Dimitri's character is formed here in the loving and tolerant atmosphere.

Katerina is a Greek born in Smyrna who escaped the atrocities in that city on a refuge boat but in the process was separated from her mother and infant sister. She is taken under the wing of a surrogate mother, Eugenia, and becomes a small but loved part of that family as they make their way to Thessaloniki. And it is to Irini Street and the home of the Muslim family who were sent to Turkey along with the rest of the city's Muslim inhabitants that Katerina Sarafoglou and her adopted family come to settle in and make a new life.

Katerina and Dimitri and the rest of the children on the street play and grow together until finally the new Komninos mansion is complete and Dimitri and his mother are removed by his cold and determined father from the unsuitable and too democratic Irini Street. And from this point onward, Katerina and Dimitri meet mostly by chance as they live the lives expected of them. Katerina learns embroidery and becomes one of the city's most accomplished seamstresses. Dimitri goes to school and is determined to become a doctor.

When World War II intrudes, Dimitri joins the Greeks fighting against the Italian invasion and then stays on in the mountains with the communists to resist the German occupation. Katerina works for the Moreno family, a Jewish family who own the very best tailoring shop in Thessaloniki and dear neighbors on Irini Street, all of them initially protected because of their skill. Butthe Morenos, like the rest of Thessaloniki's Jewish population, are eventually taken to Poland on Hitler's trains.

The city of Thessaloniki suffers blow after blow as the history of the twentieth century and that of Greece as a whole is writ large upon its streets and its people. Katerina and Dimitri's experiences at the heart of the upheavals are completely realistic given the place that they live. And through all of it, from the fire in 1917 that heralds Dimitri's birth to 2007 as they share their long and complicated story with their grandson, they have persevered, tried to make their world a good place, and simply lived their lives the best they possibly could because even in the face of disappointment, tragedy, joy, and celebration, life goes on.

The framing device of telling the story to Mitsos is a bit distracting in the beginning but comes to feel natural by the end of the novel. As simply the repository of the tale, Mitsos is undeveloped and his reaction to his grandparents' story is perhaps unearned as a result. But Dimitri and Katerina are well-developed characters and their choices throughout the story feel authentic. The political tension between Dimitri and his father is completely absolute even when Dimitri realizes that none of the groups fighting has clean hands and his realization is never fully explored as it might make his father a bit less of a villain although given his collaberation with the Germans, that's unlikely. The love story between Dimitri and Katerina is muted by their experiences and the necessity and commitments they each have so it's really not the forefront of the novel but that suits the historical saga aspect better. The ending feels telescoped, with the years up until and including the 50's drawn out and elaborately told and the years following the recovery from the war quickly sketched in bare bones. Over all though, this was a fascinating look at a place about which I knew so little and a time in history that played out similarly but with unique permutations all over the world. show less

Victoria Hislop's fascinating new novel, The Sunrise, is set in 1972 in the tourist city of Famagusta on the island of Cyprus in the Mediterranean. Aphroditi and Savvas Papacostas are preparing for the opening of their new hotel, The Sunrise, the most extravagant hotel on the island.

They are the golden couple of Famagusta, and the Sunrise will be their crowning achievement. Things are going wonderfully and Savvas has his eyes on remodeling their other hotel, making it even greater than the show more Sunrise. He comes to rely heavily on Markos, trusting him to run the Sunrise nightclub, which Markos makes into the place to be seen.

Aphroditi does not like Markos, treating him more as a servant than a valued employee, which rankles Markos. When Savvas becomes totally consumed with the new construction, Markos and Aphroditi are thrown together hosting the evening cocktail party at the Sunrise and feelings between them change.

There is change on Cyprus too. Clashes between the Greek Cypriots and Turkish Cypriots come to a head when in 1974, a Greek coup d'etat results in Turkey invading Cyprus, and Famagusta becomes a war zone.

As refugees (including the Papacostas) flee Famagusta, Markos's Greek Georgious family and the Ozkans family, (Turkish Cypriots) end up in hiding together in Famagusta. The fathers of both families are wary of each other, but eventually see that they must help each other in order to survive.

The Sunrise is a timely novel that, while set in the 1970's, could be about many places across the world today. Innocent people are caught up in the terrors of war that they never wanted to participate in. Old regional grudges and greed conspire to destroy a culture, and the ideals of young men are corrupted to achieve political goals.

Hislop does a wonderful job creating character and a story that feels authentic. The life that the Georgious' and Ozkans build together in hiding, how they work together to protect their families while trying to escape detection is captivating to the reader.

The sudden, horrific violence of war is on full display here, and there is one instance late in the story that changes many things for many people, revealing the true character of one person.

I was totally riveted by The Sunrise, reading it in two sittings. There are many times when I found myself holding my breath, and others when I read through tears. I give The Sunrise my highest recommendation, and fans of Chris Bojahlian's The Sandcastle Girls will want to read this one.

Victoria Hislop's website is here. show less