The Island
By Victoria Hislop
The Island tells the story of four generations of the Petrakis Family. The youngest member of that family, 25 year old Londoner Alexis Fielding, decides to visit her mother’s home place, the small seaside village of Plaka in Crete, in a bid to understand her family history. Her mother had always seemed reluctant to speak about her family and her early life in Crete and when she learns of Alexis’s impending journey, she gives her a letter to take to one of her old friends, Fotini, and promises that she will help her to understand the events of the past.
When Alexis arrives in Plaka, she is surprised to find that just out to sea from her mother’s home place sits the island of Spinalonga, which was once the enforced colony for all of Crete’s lepers. Alexis seeks out Fotini who readily reveals the story of three generations of the Petrakis family. In the course of the story, the history of Spinolonga is brought to life. This history is the most fascinating element of the book as with the aid of meticulous research, Hislop recreates the lives of those who were banished from their community and sent to live as outcasts on the island. In many ways, life on the island was more interesting and more civilised than that on the mainland.
The Island has all the elements of a great family saga: loss, passion, betrayal, jealousy and enduring love. It also vividly illustrates the indomitable nature of the human spirit.
It is clear, however, that Hislop’s main aim in the novel was to tell the story of the leper colony in a palatable format and she simply used the Petrakis family as vehicles to illustrate that story. In many ways, her characters are underdeveloped and quite stereotypical. Maria, for instance, who contracts leprosy is a complete saint while her sister Anna is the devil incarnate, full of rage, jealousy and venom. While the novel is set against the backdrop of the Second World War, details on the effects of the war on Crete are sparse.
Overall, The Island could be described as a light and very enjoyable read, a well researched social history of Crete in the 1950s and an intriguing account of life on a Greek leper colony.
