The Island cover art

The Island

The million-copy Number One bestseller 'A moving and absorbing holiday read'

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The Island

By: Victoria Hislop
Narrated by: Sandra Duncan
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About this listen

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

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

(P) 2006 Headline Digital©2006 Victoria Hislop
Family Life Fiction Genre Fiction Historical Historical Fiction Women's Fiction Heartfelt Tear-jerking War England

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All stars
Most relevant
A great read. So much sadness for one family. Yet they carried on with their lives. Could not leave it down

Lovely story

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I have read and reread The Island and watched the series made from the book. So, I thought I would listen to it too. It was really well narrated, I loved it.

A wonder, heartfelt and Historically correct book.

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A wonderful book, interesting yet still an easy listen. A must read/listen. Definitely but it.

Excellent

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An enjoyable listen. Felt a bit like there was a bit of victim blaming at the end which was annoying but all in all a good story with historical context.

Enjoyable

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From start to finish, this beautifully written book had me in its grip. Wonderfully read by Sandra Duncan, although some editing glitches towards the end. Overall a story of loss, hope, dear, humanity, and love. The characters are so real and the description of both the Greek Island life through the decades and of Spinalonga, is absolutely fascinating, breathtaking, uplifting and heartbreaking. Ritual, faith, parties, community, music, friendship, food.... makes me want to be Greek!
A wonderful book.

Absolutely spellbinding book

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