Customer Reviews
The Editor's Wife's Book - By: F. Cotton, 11 Oct 2008 
I gather that Mrs Ian Hislop's husband is none other than the Editor of Private Eye, which perhaps accounts for the reason why this book was published. As a piece of writing it has no merits & I have yet to meet anyone who, having read it, actuallly enjoyed it. It is a given that to get published these days you have to either be a journalist or be married to one.
Hype - By: A. K. Lewis, 09 Oct 2008 Hype led me to read this book which, I felt sure, was going to be a winner. How wrong I was! This was like reading a history book of the driest kind. The prose was flat, dull & utterly uninspired. There was a marked absence of use of original metaphor or simile or any richness of language that would have made the book with its unusual subject matter an exciting read. As it clunked along I found myself struggling to finish it - & at the end I'd forgotten alll about Alex & Ed as, after the first brief introduction, no reference whatsoever had been made to them until the end. It is hard to see why this book got published. Is it possible to give it 0 stars?
How did such poor writing make it into print? - By: A. J. Judge, 01 Oct 2008 I began reading The Island as part of a book group choice, but failed to make it past the halfway mark. Hislop has the bones of an interesting novel here, but she has thrown it away with her amateurish writing. She must be connected in the publishing world, because most editors would have decimated a draft of this quality. A similar manuscript from an unknown novelist would probably have languished forever in the agent/publisher's slush pile. The characters are undeveloped; some of the dialogue is risible; character viewpoints are switched at random, but not in a way which leaves the reader confident that the author is doing it for a purpose.
What I find staggering is that, following its recommendation by Richard & Judy, this is now a best seller. "Set the Hype Drive to maximum, Scotty."
I do not like to leave an entirely negative review, so I will mention some of the positive points that struck me about The Island. Hmmm...give me a couple of minutes; I'm sure something will occur to me.
Poorly written but nice idea - By: Sandy, 24 Sep 2008 
I managed to get to the end of the book because I did want to know what would happen (and more to the point, what had happened - I've little sympathy for the contemporary characters of Alex & Ed, but the tales of the past are more interesting). But I didn't enjoy the read. It's a nice story (nothing better) but the prose is awful. There are too many narrators - & the shifts between narrators take place at random. And there are highly unconvincing several-page-long monologues in an attempt to describe past events. What a shame. Read it if you've nothing better to read, but don't go out of your way for it.
Bravo Victoria - By: Carol, 19 Sep 2008 
This was by far one of the best books I have ever read. Totallly
engrossing from start to finish. The story is based on the island
of Spinalonga, which is a former leper colony.When Alexis decides
to find out more about her mother's past, she goes to Crete, & a
remarkable story unfolds. This book was very very moving, & beautifully
told. Lots of secrets are discovered, some of them very sad. Well done
Victoria Hislop, your first book was truly amazing, I loved it, and
did'nt want it to end.
