The Figurine by Victoria Hislop

                                             

Hardback:  512 pages

Genre:  Literary Fiction, Historical Fiction

Publisher: Headline 2023

Source:  Tywyn Public Library

First Sentences: Helena stood at the top of the aircraft steps, blinking into the sunlight, a hot breeze blowing strands of hair across her face. Why was everything shimmering? So dazzlingly bright?

Review Quote:  Hislop's love for Greece shines and transports readers through space and time to a brilliantly drawn world ― The Independent

My Opinion:  

It is nearly twenty years, I believe, since Victoria Hislop published her first highly successful novel 'The Island'. I have been a fan of her writing ever since and always enjoy her novels.

'The Figurine' revolves around three generations of women, Helena Mary and Elena. A dark family secret finds the women confronting the past and their feelings about their Greek identity.  It is a well known fact that beautiful artwork has for centuries driven people to plunder cultural treasures. Such icons feature hugely in the protagonists lives and the story these women tell us.

There is nothing I like more than a hefty novel and 'The Figurine' was 500+ pages of sheer delight. Highly recommended and the good news is that if you are looking for a holiday read the paperback will be published on August 1st!

Précis Courtesy of Goodreads: 

In her irresistible new novel, Sunday Times No 1 bestselling author Victoria Hislop shines a light on the questionable acquisition of cultural treasures and the price people - and countries - will pay to cling on to them.

Of all the ancient art that captures the imagination, none is more appealing than the Cycladic figurine. An air of mystery swirls around these statuettes from the Bronze Age and they are highly sought after by collectors - and looters - alike.

When Helena inherits her grandparents' apartment in Athens, she is overwhelmed with memories of the summers she spent there as a child, when Greece was under a brutal military dictatorship. Her remote, cruel grandfather was one of the regime's generals and as she sifts through the dusty rooms, Helena discovers an array of valuable objects and antiquities. How did her grandfather amass such a trove? What human price was paid for them?

Helena's desire to find answers about her heritage dovetails with a growing curiosity for archaeology, ignited by a summer spent with volunteers on a dig on an Aegean island. Their finds fuel her determination to protect the precious fragments recovered from the baked earth - and to understand the origins of her grandfather's collection.

Helena's attempt to make amends for some of her grandfather's actions sees her wrestle with the meaning of 'home', both in relation to looted objects of antiquity ... and herself.

Previous Reviews:

The Island   The Return   Cartes Postales   Those Who Are Loved   One August Night

Author Profile:         

Courtesy of Amazon

Inspired by a visit to Spinalonga, the abandoned Greek leprosy colony, Victoria Hislop wrote The Island in 2005. It became an international bestseller, has sold more than six million copies and was turned into a 26-part Greek TV series. She was named Newcomer of the Year at the British Book Awards and is now an ambassador for Lepra. Her affection for the Mediterranean then took her to Spain, and in the number one bestseller The Return she wrote about the painful secrets of its civil war. In The Thread, Victoria returned to Greece to tell the turbulent tale of Thessaloniki and its people across the twentieth century. Shortlisted for a British Book Award, it confirmed her reputation as an inspirational storyteller.

Her fourth novel, The Sunrise, about the Turkish invasion of Cyprus and the enduring ghost town of Famagusta, was a Sunday Times number one bestseller. Cartes Postales from Greece, fiction illustrated with photographs, followed and was one of the biggest selling books of 2016. The poignant and powerful Those Who Are Loved was a Sunday Times number one hardback bestseller in 2019 and explores a tempestuous period of modern Greek history through the eyes of a complex and compelling heroine. Victoria's most recent novel, One August Night, returns to Crete in the long-anticipated sequel to The Island. The novel spent twelve weeks in the Top 10 hardback fiction charts.

Her books have been translated into more than thirty-five languages.

Victoria divides her time between England and Greece and in 2020, Victoria was granted honorary citizenship by the President of Greece. She was recently appointed patron of Knossos 2025, which is raising funds for a new research centre at one of Greece's most significant archaeological sites. She is also on the British Committee for the Reunification of the Parthenon Marbles.

Photographs and Biographical Information courtesy of the following sites:

Victoria Hislop - Official Author Website  Goodreads Profile   Facebook Profile 

Twitter Profile

Amazon Profile