Book Beginning: The Sunrise by Victoria Hislop

The Sunrise by Victoria Hislop, July 7, 2015 by Harper Paperbacks.
"...a saga of survival set during the 1974 coup d'etat in Cyprus that tells the intersecting stories of three families whose lives are decimated when ethnic tensions erupt into conflict." 

Book beginning:
Famagusta 15 August, 1972

Famagusta was golden. The beach the bodies of sunbathers and the lives of those who lived there were gilded by warmth and good fortune.

Fine, pale sand and a turquoise sea had together created the most perfect bay in the Mediterranean and pleasure-seekers came from all around the world to soak up its warmth and to enjoy the sensual pleasure of the calm waters that gently lapped around them. Here was a glimpse of paradise.

Page 56:
The (water polo) teams were mostly made up of Greek Cypriots, but some of the strongest players were Turkish Cypriot, and he often tried to persuade his youngest brother, Ali, to come down to the beach for a game.  

Victoria Hislop read English at Oxford, and worked in publishing, PR and as a journalist before becoming a novelist. She is married with two children.

Memes: The Friday 56. Grab a book, turn to page 56 or 56% of your eReader. Find any sentence that grabs you. Post it, and add your URL post in Linky at Freda's Voice. Also visit Book Beginning at Rose City Reader.

Book Review: The Thread, A Novel by Victoria Hislop

Title: The Thread: A Novel by Victoria Hislop
Headline Review (2011), Hardcover, 400 pages
Genre: historical fiction
Objective rating: 4.5/5

Book description: Thessaloniki, 1917. As Dimitri Komninos is born, a fire sweeps through the thriving multicultural city, where Christians, Jews and Moslems live side by side. It is the first of many catastrophic events that will change for ever this city, as war, fear and persecution begin to divide its people. Five years later, young Katerina escapes to Greece when her home in Asia Minor is destroyed by the Turkish army. Losing her mother in the chaos, she finds herself on a boat to an unknown destination. From that day the lives of Dimitri and Katerina become entwined, with each other and with the story of the city itself.

Thessaloniki, 2007. A young Anglo-Greek hears the life story of his grandparents for the first time and realises he has a decision to make. For many decades, they have looked after the memories and treasures of people who have been forcibly driven from their beloved city. Should he become their new custodian? Should he stay or should he go? ((publisher)

My comments: I valued this novel both for the excellent story telling and the historical research on the city of Thessaloniki, Greece during fire, war, and earthquake. We follow the life of Katerina, from her forced evacuation from her home in Asia Minor to a chance landing in Thessaloniki, where she and her "adoptive" mother are helped to find a new home, and where Katherina becomes a successful seamstress. The story continues with their lives before and during WWII, their friendship with other families, and the invasion of the city by German troops. Katerina becomes closer to her childhood friend Dimitri, whose life is only saved during the war when he joins the resistance and fights in the mountains away from Thessaloniki. Their stories are deeply entwined with the story of the city and of Greece during and after this period.

This book was printed in hardcover and as an ebook on October 27, 2011 by the Headline Publishing Company in London. It will be available in paperback in July 2012.

A complimentary copy of this book was sent to me for possible review.
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