Me I read it last year so may be a little hazy ,but I'm up for a chinwag

Ok, shall I start?

On the whole I really enjoyed the book, I read it within about 3 days and found it pretty easy going. Being half Greek myself, I liked all the little references to Greek culture, language, food etc.

The only part that I wasn't as keen on was the end of the book. I felt that it was somewhat rushed from chapter 25 when Fotini rings Sofia to ask her to come to Crete. All of a sudden we focus on Fotini, Alexis & Sofia and the characters from the past seem to have been put back in the past, not to be discussed again.

For example, I felt sorry for Maria and Nikolaos after Sofia left. Sofia explained why she had reacted like that and to be honest it was understandable, but we never know how they really felt after that. Alexis tells Sofia that Maria probably forgave her but Fotini would have known for sure but then we just focus on Alexis and Sofia so we don't know for sure.

Apart from the ending I did like the book. What did everyone else think?

shall i go first then...

i enjoyed the book, i found it a easy and compelling read it opened my eyes to leprosy all i knew was that film no idea what it was called think charlton heston was in it and i remember watching that years ago...

The main character alexis is a modern day girl but what she uncovers about her family history is cloaked in shame and ignorance and the stigma which in those days as a big thing for a family to deal with, when i think how they shipped them off to "the island" seperated from there family's and freinds how sad..

It was a journey of discovery about her heritage but what she find is lies and deception, murder, unfaithfullness the average family stuff then

it was very sad in places and made me cry on more than one occasion and i got cross with the character Anna who turned her back on her sister and father shamed by her mothers illness and led by greed but she does come unstuck in the end shot by her own husband...

The poor girl Maria seemed destined never to find happiness but has in most good books she does in the end..

Overall a good read.. and a excellent first book by the author Victoria Hislop...

i would give it a 7/10

Jane thats slightly spooky both replying at the same time

Yes i agree with you the end did leave a few unanswered questions..

but don't you find that is the case in a lot of books they always leave you wondering what......? why....? when...?

Must be a case of great minds and all that!!

Yes, it does seem to be the way in some books that you are left with unanswered questions (maybe they like to keep us guessing so that we can have Dogsey discussions!).

I think the reason I wanted to know that Maria was happy in the end because she was one of the main characters and I liked her.

I also agree with you about it opening your eyes to leprosy. I do remember the film, was it his sister and his mother who went to the leper colony? It is probably a classic that we should know the name of but I don't think I ever saw it all, that's my excuse anyway! I always thought that leprosy was a terminal disease and that you ended up loosing all of your fingers, toes and your nose. I didn't realise that there were different types and that some people are hardly affected by the disease at all.

A good read and once we've finished discussing it, I'm going to lend it to my sister.

Now - where's Murphy?!

Sorry I've been a bit busy and forgot all about the book. I think you've summed it up rather well though, although I thought the beginning was a little odd too. Going on holiday with her boyfriend and abandoning him while she went off on her voyage of discovery.
I enjoyed the book and thought it a brilliant holiday read, but have to agree that Maria was glossed over at the end although the majority of the book was about her and she was a central character she just faded away as though the author didn't really know what to do with her.
The back page was very enlightening regarding modern day leprosy too and how cheap and easy it is to treat and yet still so widespread in certain parts of the world.
Overall though a 7/10 seems fair.

Here

I thoroughly enjoyed the book and although I gave it away I will buy it again to read this year on holiday.
I've been to Crete many times and have been to the little village opposite Spinalonga ( Plaka ) but never over to the island .It opened my eyes to leprosy - I always thought people were sent to the island to die, I had no idea about the whole community thing .and it has made me want to go back and go over
I found it a bit odd that Alexis left her boyfriend , it kept nagging at me
Anna got wot was coming lol but I found the end a bit wishy washy -in fact I don't think I remember the end as a definate ending ? ( said I was hazy lol )
The bit I didn't get was how come, if it was so hard for Sophia to talk about her past etc she was on a plane like jack flash !

OOH and the film is ...Who pays the ferryman ...........25 house points to me

I think it was easy for her once someone else had done the hard bit and she realised her daughter had reacted quite well. Must admit I didn't think much of Sofia, she abandoned Maria without a second thought, let alone a visit and was too cowardly to spill the beans about her past, and although there is stigma attached to leprosy it wasn't her story it was Maria's and Anna's tale and previous generations. What was her problem

Oooooo clever clogs gold star for you then!

LOL

Trouble ..thats what I mean..it wasn't her story ..it wasn't her shame ...and surely by the time she had her own children the stigma of leprosy was less ....I think she was cold and heartless ...like her mother ( she was Anna's child after all ...wasn't she ? )