📖 Book Review ~ The Figurine by Victoria Hislop

Headline 
1 August 2024
Paperback

Thanks to the publisher for my copy of this book

Of all the ancient art that captures the imagination, none is more appealing than the Cycladic figurine. An air of mystery swirls around these statuettes from the Bronze Age and they are highly sought after by collectors - and looters - alike.

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. Her remote, cruel grandfather was one of the regime's generals and as she sifts through the dusty rooms, Helena discovers an array of valuable objects and antiquities. How did her grandfather amass such a trove? What human price was paid for them?

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. 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.

Helena's attempt to make amends for some of her grandfather's actions sees her wrestle with the meaning of 'home', both in relation to looted objects of antiquity ... and herself.

📖  My Review..

In 1968, Helena is eight years old when she travels alone to Greece for the first time to spend a holiday with her maternal grandparents and whilst she adores her grandmother, she finds her grandfather a rather cold and distant figure. Gradually over the time we spend with Helena, both as a child, and later as an adult, we understand more about her grandfather and of the politics which influenced him. We also learn more about the rift between Helena’s mother and her grandparents which adds another interesting dimension to this family drama.

There’s a definite sense of time and place which the author describes so vividly that it feels scarily realistic especially when the volatility of civil unrest in the  nineteen seventies curtails Helena's visits to Greece. The author explains the history of the time well and allowed a picture to emerge of a country at war with itself. For me the story really began when Helena becomes an adult and is able to discover more about her Greek heritage. I found the archaeological aspect of the story interesting, especially in the way that antiquities had once been looted for personal gain. Helena learns some unhappy truths about her family and has to come to terms with the sins of the past.

As always this author delivers a good story, The Figurine is a fascinating glimpse into a forgotten time in history. It’s a great holiday read made even better if you read it on a warm, and beautiful, Greek island.

About the Author

Victoria Hislop is the multi-million copy bestselling author of eight books, including The Island, The Return, The Thread, The Sunrise, Those Who are Loved, The Last Dance and Other Stories and Cartes Postales from Greece. Her books have been translated into forty languages.

The Figurine is out in paperback on the 1st August 2024

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