Victoria Hislop

Best-known for her evocative and thoroughly researched historical novels, set against the backdrop of southern Europe - particularly Greece - Victoria Hislop is one of the UK’s bestselling novelists. She worked as a journalist and in publishing before writing her first novel, The Island, inspired by her love of Greece. Widely considered a modern classic, the novel - which follows four generations of a family on the leper colony island of Spinalonga, off the coast of Crete - was an instant hit with Waterstones booksellers and became an international bestseller. Since then she has continued to dominate bestseller lists, with books including The Return, The Thread, The Sunrise and Cartes Postales from Greece.