My book review of 'The Figurine' by Victoria Hislop

by Victoria Hislop
The Figurine
by Victoria Hislop

Set once again in Victoria’s beloved Greece, this novel features Athens and the island of Nisos... and also a small town in Suffolk!

When Helena inherits her grandparents’ apartment in Athens, she is overwhelmed with memories of the summers she spent there as a child. Greece then was under a brutal military dictatorship and her cruel grandfather was one of the regime’s generals.

Looking through her grandparents’ possessions, Helena discovers many valuable objects and antiquities and wonders how they were accumulated. At the same time she is exploring a growing passion for archaeology where she witnesses ancient artefacts being unearthed in the Greek islands.

This beautiful new novel invites us to feel the warmth and colour of Greece while shining a light on the questionable acquisition of cultural treasures and the price people, and countries, will pay to cling on to them.

Read the report on Victoria's forthcoming visit to Woodbridge here.

Date of this review: August 2023
Book publication date: 28th September 2023