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. This cookie is stored by WPML WordPress plugin. The purpose of the cookie is to store the redirected language. Last time best-selling author Victoria Hislop came to Lytham, she really enjoyed it. So the Oxford-educated novelist is looking forward to returning again in less than two weeks’ time, for a meet- and-greet session at Lowther Pavilion, to coincide with the publication of her latest work, The Sunrise.

I’m starting to write a few things in Greek, one day I may write a novel in Greek and have it translated into English! The first year of learning Greek I spent learning the different alphabet and the grammar is quite complex – each noun has three cases, masculine, feminine or neutral. And sometimes it can quite illogical. But I can now speak pretty fluent Greek. It’s always been travelling which has given me inspiration. But we should always be prepared for surprises. Some of the hotels were bombed by Turkish planes during the invasion. This hotel was one of the most luxurious in the resort. When I see it, it feels as if the events of 1974 just happened a few moments ago, as though the bombers have just passed over and done their damage. The war was brief and violent (lasting only a few days in all), but the damage was catastrophic to this island. The occupation has now lasted more than forty years. That traumatic teenage trip left its scars: “I’ve never been camping since,” she admits, laughing merrily. “If someone tells me we’re going to sleep in a tent, forget it!” Fortunately, that dislike doesn’t extend to Cyprus itself – and in fact Cyprus is the subject of her new book The Sunrise, her fourth novel since making her name with The Island in 2005. That debut, a big hit in Britain and even bigger hit in Greece (where it became a hugely successful TV series), was set on the leprosy colony of Spinalonga, off the coast of Crete; since then she’s written The Return, set during the Spanish Civil War, and The Thread, set in Thessaloniki – and nowThe Sunrise, which takes place in Famagusta before and during the invasion. They are the golden couple of Famagusta, and the Sunrise will be their crowning achievement. Things are going wonderfully and Savvas has his eyes on remodeling their other hotel, making it even greater than the Sunrise. He comes to rely heavily on Markos, trusting him to run the Sunrise nightclub, which Markos makes into the place to be seen.Jules, Rebecca, Rachel and Emma chat with Victoria Hislop about her latest book, The Figurine. We also talk about Greece, archaeology, Strictly Come Dancing and book recommendations ... Read the full article Caught up in this conflict are two families from either side, and central to the story is an unlikely love affair, an affair that has repercussions for these two families for many years. Famagusta was once a thriving city of forty thousand people. In 1974 its entire population fled when Cyprus was invaded by Turkey. Forty years on, Varosha, as the modern city is known, remains empty, sealed off behind the barbed wire put up by the Turkish army. It is a ghost town”. Forty years on, lawyer Maria Hadjivasili, who escaped with her family, revisits her home town with author Victoria Hislop She said: “I feel very comfortable being a foreigner. I don’t find languages that difficult, I speak Greek, French and bits of Spanish and German.

This post was originally published at Novelicious.com and is now at WritingTipsOasis.com. WritingTipsOasis.com acquired Novelicious.com in June 2022. Intelligent and immersive… Hislop’s incisive narrative weaves a vast array of fact through a poignant, compelling family saga ( The Sunday Times) Fascinating and moving... Hislop writes unforgettably about Cyprus and its people." - The Times (UK)

Moving and, at times, nail-biting...Book groups who enjoyed... The Kite Runner and Kristin Hannah's The Nightingale will dig into this novel in which politics trumps privilege but not family." - Booklist Lidl ήταν πιο ενδιαφέρουσες. Το ξανάρχισα πεισματικά τώρα, μετά από μια έκθεση που είδα για την Αμμόχωστο και με αφορμή ότι το καλοκαίρι θα (ξανα)πάω στην Κύπρο… Από τις πρώτες 50 σελίδες όμως ήθελα να το αφήσω και από πείσμα και μόνο το τελείωσα… Thankfully, he didn’t have anything drastic to say about her latest novel, The Sunrise, set in the sunshine resort of Famagusta in Cyprus in 1972, where Greek and Turkish Cypriots live in harmony. It centres on an ambitious couple who open the most glitzy hotel there – The Sunrise – only for prosperity and happiness to be scuppered by the conflict between Turkey and Greece, with devastating effects on both Greek and Turkish Cypriot communities.

Maria Hadjivasili has the easy, relaxed glamour of a successful professional woman in her 50s. Divorced with a grown-up daughter, she runs her own law practice in Nicosia. Our paths first crossed earlier this year when I was on a research trip to Cyprus and I was captivated by her story of an idyllic childhood cut short. Her life followed a completely different path than the one she had imagined in 1974 at the age of 17, before conflict divided her island. And her final words to Fylde coast readers: “People are welcome to come along to Lytham, whether or not they have read my books.Victoria Hislop describes life in this haven so well, bringing to life the guests, the hotel workers and the hustle and bustle of fabulous Famagusta. Hislop, αλλά δεν μπορώ να κάνω διαφορετικά. Ήδη ανέφερα πως την θεωρώ μια εξαιρετικά υπερτιμημένη συγγραφέα. Ναι μεν τα κείμενά της είναι διάχυτα από συναίσθημα, όμως αυτό δεν είναι πάντα αρκετό ώστε να σε κερδίσει ένα λογοτεχνικό εγχείρημα. Ειδικά όταν γίνεται με τρόπο αφελή, επιφανειακό, επίπεδο και ουδέτερο, όπως στην περίπτωση της "Ανατολής", παρά που η συγγραφέας κάνει απέλπιδες προσπάθειες να μας πείσει για το αντίθετο. Ως Γιώτα, βρήκα πολύ πεζούς και τους χαρακτήρες της, και το ψυχογράφημά τους, αλλά και το πως αλληλεπιδρούν δεδομένων των συνθηκών όπου έχουν βρεθεί και πολύ περισσότερο, δεδομένου του πως στην πραγματικότητα θέλει η ίδια η δημιουργός να μας το περάσει όλο αυτό. Ναι μεν αντιλαμβανόμαστε που το πάει αλλά, για μένα, αποτυγχάνει παταγωδώς αφού, στο τέλος, έπιασα τον εαυτό μου να μην ενδιαφέρεται για κανέναν ήρωα, ούτε για την κατάληξη αυτού. Set in Cyprus in the summer of 1972, it follows the story of an ambitious couple about to open the island’s most spectacular hotel, where Greek and Turkish Cypriots work in harmony. Two neighbouring families, the Georgious and the Ozkansm, are among many who move to Famagusta to escape the years of unrest and ethnic violence elsewhere on the island. In 2009, she donated the short story Aflame in Athens to Oxfam's " Ox-Tales" project, four collections of British stories written by 38 authors. Her story was published in the "Fire" collection. [6] Hislop has a particular affection for Greece. She visits the country often for research and other reasons, and has a second home on the island of Crete. [7] Personal life [ edit ] 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?