''The Island'' is a

historical novel Historical fiction is a literary genre in which the plot takes place in a setting related to the past events, but is fictional. Although the term is commonly used as a synonym for historical fiction literature, it can also be applied to other ty ...

written by

Victoria Hislop Victoria Hislop (née Hamson; born 1959) is an English author. Early life Born in Bromley, Kent, she was raised in Tonbridge and attended Tonbridge Grammar School. She studied English at St Hilda's College, Oxford, and worked in publishing and ...

. It won several awards including Newcomer of the Year at the 2007

British Book Awards The British Book Awards or Nibbies are literary awards for the best UK writers and their works, administered by ''The Bookseller''. The awards have had several previous names, owners and sponsors since being launched in 1990, including the National ...

. The book was nominated for the Book of the Year award at the same event.

Plot

The novel is set on the island of

Spinalonga Spinalonga ( el, Σπιναλόγκα) is an island located in the Gulf of Elounda in north-eastern Crete, in Lasithi, next to the town of Plaka. The island is further assigned to the area of Kalydon. It is near the Spinalonga peninsula ("large ...

, off the coast of

Crete Crete ( el, Κρήτη, translit=, Modern: , Ancient: ) is the largest and most populous of the Greek islands, the 88th largest island in the world and the fifth largest island in the Mediterranean Sea, after Sicily, Sardinia, Cyprus, and ...

, and on the village of

Plaka Pláka ( el, Πλάκα) is the old historical neighborhood of Athens, clustered around the northern and eastern slopes of the Acropolis, and incorporating labyrinthine streets and neoclassical architecture. Plaka is built on top of the residentia ...

which lies within swimming distance across the bay from it. ''The Island'' tells the story of Alexis Fielding, a 25-year-old on the cusp of a life-changing decision. Alexis knows little or nothing about her family's past and has always resented her mother for refusing to discuss it. She knows only that her mother, Sofia, grew up in Plaka, a small Cretan village, before moving to London. Making her first visit to Crete to see the village where her mother was born, Alexis discovers that the village of Plaka faces the small, now deserted island of Spinalonga. Alexis is shocked and surprised to learn the deserted island was

Greece Greece,, or , romanized: ', officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the southern tip of the Balkans, and is located at the crossroads of Europe, Asia, and Africa. Greece shares land borders with ...

leper colony A leper colony, also known by many other names, is an isolated community for the quarantining and treatment of lepers, people suffering from leprosy. '' M. leprae'', the bacterium responsible for leprosy, is believed to have spread from East Af ...

for much of the 20th century. It is here that Alexis meets an old friend of her mother's, Fotini. The older woman is prepared to tell her for the first time the whole tragic story of her family. What Fotini tells Alexis is shocking and tragic, it is the story which Sofia has spent her life concealing: the story of Eleni, her grandmother, and of a family torn apart by tragedy, war and passion. Eleni has two children, called Maria and Anna with her husband Georgio. She discovers how intimately she is connected with the island and with the horror and pity of the

which was once there, and learns too that the secrets of the past have the power to change the future.

TV adaptation

Mega Channel MEGA Channel, also known as MEGA TV or just MEGA, is a television network in Greece, that broadcasts a mix of foreign and Greek programming. It is the first and the oldest private television network in Greece. History Mega Channel (1989–2018) ...

Greece produced a 26-episode television series called ''To Nisi'' (''The Island''), based on the book; the series premiered on 11 October 2010. With a €4 million budget, the series is the most expensive in Greek television history. During a pre-premiere press screening, the show has received positive critical reception and is reportedly being eyed by foreign networks. Initial thoughts by Mega Channel were to make a film out of the novel, but they finally decided upon a 26 episode television series instead. Mirella Papaeconomou primarily took on the script’s adaptation, and with Hislop’s permission added stories and characters that do not exist in the novel, mostly to fill in the time of an entire TV season as well as enrich the book. Hislop has actively participated in the entire process with ideas, suggestions and observations. Shooting began in December 2009 on location on the island of Crete.

Footnotes

2005 British novels British historical novels Novels set in Crete Headline Publishing Group books {{2000s-hist-novel-stub