The Figurine: Escape to Athens and breathe in the Aegean-scented air in the engrossing novel from the much-loved author

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It highlights the all to real issues of many Greek treasures dishonestly ending up sold all over the world. Helena’s grandparents live in a very well-to-do area and have a flat decorated with grand furniture and art. And know this: even when you are having a quiet sob in a corner, you’ll soon find yourself being whirled and twirled — and feeling the power of the dance. They clearly adore each other, and her and until tragedy strikes, they have a happy and comfortable life.

The Figurine by Victoria Hislop — West End Lane Books The Figurine by Victoria Hislop — West End Lane Books

It needed long stretches of tranquil time and near solitude to read it, but it was sanity-saving to be so absorbed by a work of literature. It is a great idea for a book about where artefacts belong and the complex history that can surround them. During her time as a journalist, she wrote on education and travel for national newspapers and magazines and was sent on assignments around the world. The beginning was slow to build up, but was careful in all details and took time to introduce the characters.

At the end of my dance, I did something like a twerk, knowing the camera was focused on my backside, having sussed correctly this would get me high points. These yearly holidays take up the first part of the novel and describe foods, customs and the people of Athens. After joining an archeological dig, Helena becomes fascinated with the history of her ancestors and is greatly disturbed by such sites being looted and treasures being smuggled out of the country. I was aware of the military dictatorship and the 1974 war with Cyprus but not so much about the brutality. But this family has survived, and slowly green shoots of hope and renewal will grow from the smouldering ruins of devastation.

The Figurine by Victoria Hislop | Waterstones The Figurine by Victoria Hislop | Waterstones

There were some really great characters and the author’s historical writing brings out the beauty of mainland Greece, the islands and the importance of archeology to understand the past. 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. The story itself was a huge interest to me as i love to read about Artifacts, their origins and the smuggling trade that exists. 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. 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.

These cookies help provide information on metrics the number of visitors, bounce rate, traffic source, etc. After university she travels to Athens to try and find out more about her mother’s culture and her grandfather’s legacy.

About Victoria – Victoria Hislop About Victoria – Victoria Hislop

Yes, I should really talk about the violin, because that was my personal introduction to music and the motivation always for me was to try and play some of Mendelssohn's violin concerto because I was given that for Christmas when I was about 12 on a big vinyl that I still have. I got very interested in that subject, because I was always being nagged, which is quite a polite word, by my Greek friends and people who interviewed me in Greece, about what I thought about where the ones that we have in the British Museum should really be. The book is a treasure of stories-Helena's childhood summer holidays with her grandparents, within the context of a suppressive military regime. Upon the death of her grandparents and following a holiday in Greece with her parents- tragedy falls upon Helena and the story moves onto her university years where she becomes involved in ‘holiday time ‘ archaeological digs.This cookie is set by WPML WordPress plugin and is used to test if cookies are enabled on the browser. 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. There is a lot of talk about greek architecture and truthfully these parts didn’t keep my interest and went over my head at times.