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The Island

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About this listen

 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 Genre Fiction Literary Fiction Fiction Tear-jerking England War

Critic reviews

"At last, a beach book with a heart." ( Observer)
"Passionately engaged with its subject." ( The Sunday Times)
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This story transports you to beautiful Greece. Both the characters and the way the story is told keeps your interest throughout.

A deep and interesting story.

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I was recommended this book. never read anything similar orby this author but I really enjoyed it. turned in places and went in a direction I hadn't anticipated which made it a great listen.

excellent

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I am really enjoying the story and am nearing the end but on numerous occasions I have felt like quitting and returning the audiobook. The narrator keeps making me jump with her voice for some of the characters, particularly the males. Papa Dimitri sounds like an explosion: loud and angry, and some of the females like Anna have high pitched shrills and sound overly whiny. I keep having to twiddle with the volume as some characters sound really low and soft, and the next moment I'm putting the volume down after the narration has frightened me! In the bright side, at least it wasn't a fake robot voice.

A nicely flowing abridged version

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Loved it and so sorry when it came to an end. I can thoroughly recommend

A great and gripping read

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Interesting makes us want to holiday there and probably will , sad, happy , romantic , intriguing , similar to a book called the Island

Very good

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