The Sunrise: The Number One Sunday Times bestseller 'Fascinating and moving'

Product Information

A Time of Silence: Civil War and the Culture of Repression in Franco’s Spain 1936 – 1945 – Michael Richards (CAMBRIDGE) Adroitly plotted and deftly characterised, Hislop’s gripping novel tells the stories of ordinary Greek and Turkish families trying to preserve their humanity in a maelstrom of deception, betrayal and ethnic hatred ( Mail on Sunday) An absorbing tale about family, friendship, loyalty and betrayal, set during a violent period in the history of Cyprus ( Good Housekeeping) In the summer of 1972, Famagusta in Cyprus is the most desirable resort in the Mediterranean, a city bathed in the glow of good fortune. An ambitious couple are about to open the island’s most spectacular hotel, where Greek and Turkish Cypriots work in harmony. Two neighbouring families, the Georgious and the Özkans, are among many who moved to Famagusta to escape the years of unrest and ethnic violence elsewhere on the island. But beneath the city’s façade of glamour and success, tension is building. The Lowther visit is Victoria’s only northern tour date, so it’s a rare chance to hear her speak about her new book, The Sunrise.

The Impact of the Spanish Civil War on Britain: War, Loss and Memory – Tom Buchanan (SUSSEX ACADEMIC PRESS) There is change on Cyprus too. Clashes between the Greek Cypriots and Turkish Cypriots come to a head when in 1974, a Greek coup d'etat results in Turkey invading Cyprus, and Famagusta becomes a war zone. I’m a big fan of Victoria Hislop’s previous three novels, ‘The Thread’, ‘The Return’, and ‘The Island’ so was expecting a lot from the new one, ‘The Sunrise’. I was a little disappointed and it’s difficult to pin down why. The Cyprus setting is great, the historical setting is stirring, the characters… I didn’t connect as well with them as I did with Alexis and Eleni in ‘The Island’. Finally, I decided that the difference between ‘The Sunrise’ and the Hislop’s earlier books is that it wears its history a little too heavily. That said, it is a fascinating period and one I knew little about, except a memory of a distant cousin who lived near Kyrenia at the time. He and his family were forced to flee their house, empty-handed, running across open countryside towards a cave, dodging bullets being fired from an airplane. Not all the characters are as well fleshed out as those of us who loved The Island would like. For instance, Savvas feels a bit of a pantomime baddie. Making money is his reason for breathing and unfortunately, it seems to have divested him of any humane trait along the way. His nightclub manager Markos Georgiou, on the other hand, may know how to manipulate business (and his boss) to his advantage but he has a heart for his family and the burgeoning cause that forces him to take sides. He may not want to take part in the fighting but he still finds a way to help that's just as dangerous.

The fallout sends the island's inhabitants spiraling into fear and chaos, and the Papacostas join an exodus of people who must abandon their idyllic lives in Famagusta and flee to refugee camps. In the end, only two families remain in the decimated city: the Özkans and the Georgious. One is Turkish Cypriot, the other Greek Cypriot and the tension between them is palpable. But with resources scarce and the Turkish militia looming large, both families must take shelter in the deserted hotel as they battle illness, hunger, fear, and their own prejudices while struggling to stay alive. Victoria became an ambassador for LEPRA, the international leprosy charity, which enabled her to travel to India and see the work it carries out. At the end of the work, there’s a little bit of hope and optimism that results. So it was a mixture of pleasure and pain, like a lot of jobs.”

Intelligent and immersive… Hislop’s incisive narrative weaves a vast array of fact through a poignant, compelling family saga ( The Sunday Times) 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… Rose, Hilary. "Victoria Hislop on doing Strictly (the Greek one): My partner is beautiful — I can't stop looking at him". The Times . Retrieved 11 October 2021. The Sunset is named after the hotel and perhaps also resonant of the last days of the island as the locals would recognise it. It includes both Turkish and Greek Cypriot families in a way that recognises that each side became a victim of the fighting that led to partition. By including both rich and poor families, Victoria has the opportunity to demonstrate that war is a leveller; something that we all realise, but hits home harder when we witness it in a novel like this.I thought I was going to become an artist, get married, have children and have a calm, easy life, going to the beach every day,’ she reflects. ‘But what happened in 1974 totally altered the course of my family’s life.’ In 2020, Hislop was granted honorary Greek citizenship for promoting modern Greek history and culture. [9] The following year she was a contestant on Dancing with the Stars, the Greek version of Strictly Come Dancing. [10] Bibliography [ edit ] Novels [ edit ] The title alludes to an upscale hotel the Papacostas family is building, for the summer of 1972 is a prosperous time in Famagusta, a tourist mecca on the island. Savvas and Aphroditi Papacostas are a power couple. They already own a small hotel, the Paradise Beach, but realize how lucrative a high-rise hotel and nightclub could be, so they engage in a building project to bring upscale amenities to their new property. At first all goes well, as elegant Aphroditi and her driven husband do everything they can to ensure the success of their enterprise. The nightclub is to be run by Markos Georgiou, in whom Savvas has great confidence and for whom Aphroditi has great antipathy—at least initially. When Savvas embarks on another project, however—the renovation of the Paradise Beach—Aphroditi begins to feel lonely and finds comfort in the arms of Markos. And then, in 1974, the political situation radically changes, as Turkish troops invade Cyprus. The recently installed democratic government in Greece has its own preoccupations and has neither the time nor the energy to devote to Greek Cypriots. Savvas and Aphroditi must flee Famagusta and go to the British base of Dhekelia before settling into an apartment in Nicosia owned by Aphroditi’s parents. Meanwhile, Markos and his family take refuge with some Turkish Cypriots in the now-abandoned Sunrise Hotel, and together they face an occupied and increasingly dangerous city. The fallout sends the island’s inhabitants spiraling into fear and chaos, and the Papacostas join an exodus of people who must abandon their idyllic lives in Famagusta and flee to refugee camps. In the end, only two families remain in the decimated city: the Özkans and the Georgious. One is Turkish Cypriot, the other Greek Cypriot and the tension between them is palpable. But with resources scarce and the Turkish militia looming large, both families must take shelter in the deserted hotel as they battle illness, hunger, fear, and their own prejudices while struggling to stay alive.

Seventy years earlier, the café is home to the close-knit Ramírez family. In 1936, an army coup led by Franco shatters the country’s fragile peace, and in the heart of Granada the family witnesses the atrocities of conflict. Divided by politics and tragedy, everyone must take a side, fighting a personal battle as Spain rips itself apart.

The island writer on coming back to Lytham, writing, her new book and how maybe women should run the world.

Hislop does a wonderful job creat Successful British novelist Victoria Hislop is about to release her new book, set in Cyprus. THEO PANAYIDES meets a woman with a zest for life The Scalpel, the Sword: The Story of Dr Norman Bethune – Ted Allan & Sydney Gordon (MCCLELLAND & STEWART)