The Return: The 'captivating and deeply moving' Number One bestseller

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That was on my mind while reading "The Thread"...Reminded me of my thoughts exactly when many years ago I was devouring "The Island"... Of course that made me even more interested as I am sure he has a family story to tell,” she says, pointing out that, as holidaymakers, many of us might even have been lying by the sea in Benidorm, say, while elsewhere, people were still being executed in the mid-1970s. A sprawling epic spanning both world wars, the Thread works better as historical reference than fiction: the characters are still born, rendered lifeless and unengaging, with the true centre piece being Thessaloniki, a vibrant city full of colour and pizzaz which subtly evolves throughout the 20 century.

Bearing no regrets whatsoever for fighting for the communists, the remainder of her life is troubled by some of her decisions. While the history of the city and Greece as a whole was something new and informative the author was inconsistent again - some major events took up several chapters while others were glossed over in a few paragraphs. It was too obvious she was simply interested in using the events to interweave the characters' lives. Dimitri Komninos is born in Thessaloniki in 1917, the year that an inferno ravaged the multicultural city. 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.Both The Island and The Return tell of the uncovering of old family secrets. The first is a multi-generational narrative set in a former leprosy colony on Spinalonga, a Greek island off Crete, which Hislop and her family discovered when they were holidaying there. Her husband hates sitting on a beach, preferring to explore new places. The Return takes place in Granada and revisits the bloody conflict of the Spanish Civil War, which tore the country, and many loving families, apart. Each word held its magic. They were like brushstrokes painting the landscape of the city, each one helping to build up a picture of the whole.” Formerly a travel writer, Hislop has certainly smartened up the genre. “A beach book with heart,” claimed the Observer of The Island, which is currently being filmed as a 25-part serial for Greek television, but with the addition of some steamy sex scenes which aren’t actually in the book. Indeed, she’s currently ferreting away all sorts of things from her nosy husband, including the small library of books she’s reading to research her third novel.

When Helena inherits her grandparents' apartment in Athens, she is overwhelmed by memories of childhood summers when Greece was under a brutal military dictatorship. Her grandfather was one of the regime's generals and in the dusty rooms, Helena discovers an array of priceless antiquities. How did her grandfather amass them - and what human price was paid for them? Her own husband discovered his secret Scottish heritage when he took part in the BBC series Who Do You Think You Are? and found that his grandfather was a soldier from Ayr, who helped free France in 1918, and that his great-great-great-grandfather was a crofter from Stornaway in Lewis. “He’s terribly proud of his Scottish roots – he’s entitled to wear the Matheson tartan,” she says. And, not many people know this, he’s a demon Scottish dancer, who can be found on Burns night in Tunbridge Wells doing a very merry Gay Gordons. I was reluctant to ready this book. Why ? Well, I have read a lot of books about this era of Greek history, but other than Louis de Bernieres, never one written by a British author. The result is a story that has little or no real connection with the place and the time; it could have been staged in Paris during the French revolution or in Moscow during the Bolshevik period. It would have made no difference to the development of the plot.Thessaloniki, 2007. A young Anglo-Greek hears the life story of his grandparents for the first time and realises he has a decision to make. For many decades, they have looked after the memories and treasures of people who have been forcibly driven from their beloved city. Should he become their new custodian? Should he stay or should he go? There was simply too much stuff happening and too many characters to make anything in particularly meaningful in my view. I wanted Hislop to stop, take a breath and really explore what was going on in a scene or era - it seemed rushed and not nearly enough attention was given to the narrative, which seemed confused in places. I found it so interesting from a historical and political perspective on top of the fact that it is just a beautiful and well executed story. Thessaloniki, 1917. As Dimitri Komninos is born, a fire sweeps through the thriving multicultural city, where Christians, Jews and Moslems live side by side. It is the first of many catastrophic events that will change for ever this city, as war, fear and persecution begin to divide its people. Five years later, young Katerina escapes to Greece when her home in Asia Minor is destroyed by the Turkish army. Losing her mother in the chaos, she finds herself on a boat to an unknown destination. From that day the lives of Dimitri and Katerina become entwined, with each other and with the story of the city itself.

But on the day of her departure for Athens, Ellie receives a notebook; one revealing about a man’s trip to Greece.Philby, Charlotte (3 January 2009). "My Secret Life, Independent Magazine 3 January 2009". The Independent. London. Archived from the original on 17 August 2022 . Retrieved 5 January 2009. The tale is narrated by Maria, one of the children in Hislop’s novel The Island, from which this engrossing yarn is skillfully adapted for younger readers. Although Sofia only reveals that she was raised in a tiny Cretan village before moving to London, she eventually decides to help her daughter learn more by giving her a letter to take to an old friend in Crete. Upon reaching Plaka, Alexis discovers that it’s quite close from the small and uninhabited island of Spinalonga.

He does try to sneak up on me when I’m writing, but I’m paranoid about talking about my work, so I’ve told him he’ll know where my next book is set when he gets the postcard from wherever it is that I’m planning to set it. I never show Ian my books until they are finished. He doesn’t say much about them, in any case. My daughter, who is 18, says she has my book by her bed, which means it’s waiting in the pile to be read. My 15-year-old son, however, has read my new book, The Return. He sent me a text saying, ‘Amazing, mum!’ It’s the best compliment I’ve ever had. I treasure it.” The army coup of 1936, under the command of Franco, however destroyed the tranquility of the nation, unleashing a period of grief and devastation. They work for longer hours, never share a lot quality of time with their families, and usually have a terrible sex life. Before they moved to the country, she had started learning to dance in London. Then she discovered to her chagrin that there were no courses available in Tunbridge Wells. Such is the mania for dance in Britain today, though, that there’s even a salsa class in her local village hall.However, as I said, I absolutely adored it. It was a bit slow to get going but after a little while I was completely hooked and couldn't put it down. I really enjoyed The Thread, and am giving it five stars -- not because it is a literary treasure, but rather because it does such a good job at historical fiction. I learned so much about the history of Thessalonika and modern Greece in general, and enjoyed myself while reading. The Thread: history of Thessaloniki, Greeks-Muslims-Jews living together in harmony in this prosperous multicultural city, Minor Asia, Smyrni, persecutions, massacres, refugees, fire of 1917, complete devastation, population exchange, World Wars, German atrocities, famine, Jews' Holocaust, jewish ritual objects lost or hidden, greek national division, communism, resistance, EAM, Thessaloniki earthquake in 1978...