The Thread by Victoria Hislop

Paperback: 455 pages                                                                                                  
Genre: Historical Fiction
Publisher: Headline 2011
Source: Purchased from Amazon
First Sentence: 'What I would like you to do, my dear, is to imagine you are a child again.'
Review Quote: 'Fast-paced narrative and utterly convincing sense of place' (Guardian)
Main Characters: Katerina Sarafoglou, Dimitri Komninos,
Setting: Thessaloniki, Greece
My Opinion: Thessaloniki is much more than a setting for this all-embracing historical saga as it plays such an important part in the story. I learnt so much about Greek history as I read about the events that this city has suffered over the years. A magnificent setting for this poignant tale that gives us a birds eye view of how the protagonists survive the catastrophes they lived through in the twentieth century. Victoria Hislop has a talent of bringing history alive on the printed page and for this reason alone I can highly recommend her writing. The life stories of Katerina and Dimitri are of course also a very important element of this many layered story which has been beautifully threaded, (excuse the pun), together. 



Précis Courtesy of Goodreads:

A beautiful and epic novel that spans nearly a hundred years, The Thread is a magnificent story of a friendship and a love that endures through the catastrophes and upheavals of the twentieth century--both natural and man-made--in the turbulent city of Thessaloniki, Greece. Victoria Hislop, internationally bestselling author of The Island and The Return, has written a wonderfully evocative and enthralling saga enriched by deep emotion and sweeping historical events, from fire to civil war to Nazi brutality and economic collapse. The Thread is historical fiction at its finest, colorful and captivating with truly unforgettable characters--a novel that brilliant captures the energy and life of this singular Greek city.


Previous Reviews of Victoria Hislop's Novels on LindyLouMac'sBookReviews

The Island       The Return

Video Trailer for 'The Thread' Courtesy of YouTube

   Richard and Judy talk to Victoria Hislop about her summer book club 2012 title - The Thread.



Author Profile

Born in Bromley, Kent in 1959, she was raised in Tonbridge, Kent, and attended Tonbridge Grammar School. She studied English at St Hilda's College, Oxford and worked in publishing and as a journalist before becoming an author. She lived in London for over 20 years, and now lives in Sissinghurst. She married Private Eye editor Ian Hislop on 16 April 1988 in Oxford. They have two children, Emily Helen (born 1990) and William David (born 1993).

Her first novel, The Island, held the number one slot in the Sunday Times paperback charts for eight consecutive weeks and has sold over two million copies worldwide. Victoria was the Newcomer of the Year at the Galaxy British Book Awards 2007 and won the Richard & Judy Summer Read competition.Victoria acted as script consultant on the 26-part adaptation of The Island in Greece, which achieved record ratings for Greek television.

Her second novel, The Return, set against the tempestuous backdrop of teh Spanish Civil war was also a Number One bestseller. She returned to Greece for her third novel, The Thread, taking as her backdrop the troubled history of the city of Thessaloniki in a story that spans almost a century, beginning with the Great Thessaloniki Fire of 1917. Her short story collection, The Last Dance and other Stories, was widely acclaimed.

In 2014, she published The Sunrise, a turbulent family saga set in Cyprus after the Turkish invasion of 1974 which would leave the glamourous resort town of Famagusta a ruin ringed by barbed wire for decades to come.

Her most recent book, Cartes Postales from Greece, an illustrated novel, was published in September 2016


Her books have been translated into more than 30 languages.



Photographs, Trailer and Biographical Information courtesy of the following sites.


You Tube - Richard and Judy Interview    Goodreads Author Profile    Twitter - Victoria Hislop

Author's Official Website    Wikipedia - Victoria Hislop    Amazon Victoria Hislop Page