The Sunrise

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Last time best-selling author Victoria Hislop came to Lytham, she really enjoyed it. So the Oxford-educated novelist is looking forward to returning again in less than two weeks’ time, for a meet- and-greet session at Lowther Pavilion, to coincide with the publication of her latest work, The Sunrise. Hislop captures well the dreamy and Edenic time before the occupation as well as the fear and chaos afterward. The plastic and barbed wire that has been wrapped around this city is more clearly visible here. I walked right next to it to take these pictures of some derelict hotels. It’s not hard to imagine what an idyllic place this must have been to stay – hotel residents could step from the foyer directly onto the sand. And with soft sand such as this, it must have seemed like paradise. The beach faces due east so they would have woken to the most spectacular sunrise each day visible from those windows. This was what inspired me to call my imaginary hotel (which also gives the novel its name) ‘The Sunrise’.

I took this photo from the office of the Turkish mayor of Famagusta. In the picture, we see some of the older buildings of the city, including one of the original hotels of the city, The Savoy. It’s clear here how nature has taken over, with weeds growing up into the middle of the streets and a general state of dilapidation. And the picture also gives an idea of the scale of the city. The absorbing story of the Cretan village of Plaka and the tiny, deserted island of Spinalonga – Greece’s former leprosy colony – is told to us by Maria Petrakis, one of the children in the original version of The Island. She tells us of the ancient and misunderstood disease of leprosy, exploring the themes of stigma, shame and the treatment of those who are different, which are as relevant for children as adults. Gill Smith’s rich, full-colour illustrations will transport the reader to the timeless and beautiful Greek landscape and Mediterranean seascape. If only that was the case. She travels through time and stops at the year 1974. There, Hislop brings to life the most horrific days of the turkish invasion and makes a noticing and rather disturbing contrast of the carefree days of potential and wealth to the absolute wretchedness that followed. The entire island is painted red by the blood of cypriots, both greeks and turkish and Cyprus is biscected.Intelligent and immersive... Hislop's incisive narrative weaves a vast array of fact through a poignant, compelling family saga." - The Sunday Times (UK) Victoria married Private Eye editor Ian Hislop on 16 April 1988 in Oxford; the couple have two children, Emily Helen (born 1990) and William David (born 1993). [8]

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. The island of Cyprus provides the setting for this novel of politics and romance as the action moves from the pastoral to the volatile. Ian is much cleverer than I am,” insists Victoria, whose debut 2005 novel The Island has to date sold more than three million copies worldwide, been translated into 31 languages and was made into a hit 26-part Greek TV series, in which both Victoria and Ian had walk-on parts. I loved Victoria Hislop’s first book The Island and was looking forward to this new release. It was clearly extremely well researched and laid bare the devastation caused to both communities of Greek and Turkish Cypriots who had previously lived and worked side by side. Their lives – and their land were torn apart by the invasion and the trust between them destroyed. I can’t imagine how devastating it would have been for those fleeing the invasion to have been forced to leave their home and businesses in just the clothes they were wearing and to not know whether they would see their family or home again.

Hislop brings her consummate storytelling skills to this enthralling tale of love, marriage and a community all put to the test." - Woman & Home (UK) they get swollen day by day spreading like a cancerous metastasis, infecting the island, its people. Famagusta a seaside resort city thriving with tourists, with expensive shops, luxury hotels, people thirsty for money, thirsty for more.

The story starts with a description of the place, the author takes time to describe it, but then she spits out all those characters as at one breath. It’s hard to follow all those names, who is who. When a Greek coup plunges the island into chaos, Cyprus faces a disastrous conflict. Turkey invades to protect the Turkish Cypriot minority, and Famagusta is shelled. Forty thousand people seize their most precious possessions and flee from the advancing soldiers. In the deserted city, just two families remain.The idea came out of a conversation with some school teachers in Crete.” said Victoria “They commented that there were so many themes in the story that were as relevant to children as to adults but felt that the original novel was a little too grown-up for many of them. I realised that much of the book is actually about children and their experiences of stigma and loss, so this has been a wonderful experience for me, to look at things through their eyes. Writing for children requires a whole different set of skills and I hope they will enjoy reading it.” The Sunrise’ tells the story of three families in Famagusta from the sunny days of 1972 when tourism brings riches to Cyprus, to 1974 when a Greek coup forces the island into chaos. Greek Cypriots flee in one direction, Turkish Cypriots flee in the other, and the Turkish army invades to protect the Turkish Cypriot minority. The city of Famagusta empties as people run for their lives. Today, 40 years later, the city is still empty. This is the setting for Hislop’s novel. I thought I was going to become an artist, get married, have children and have a calm, easy life, going to the beach every day,’ she reflects. ‘But what happened in 1974 totally altered the course of my family’s life.’ Hislop’s writing effectively weaves the personal into the political without ever becoming overbearing. An informative but equally emotional read ( Woman) Hislop προσπαθεί μέσα από το βιβλίο της αυτό να κρατήσει μια ουδέτερη στάση όσον αφορά το καυτό θέμα της Κύπρου και της εισβολής των Τούρκων σε αυτή. Και ναι, δέχομαι πως πρόκειται για μυθιστόρημα και όχι για ιστορικό δοκίμιο, αλλά κάποια θέματα είναι πολύ νωπά και πολύ ευαίσθητα για να τα αγγίζουμε με τρόπους που δεν ανταποκρίνονται απόλυτα στην αλήθεια. Καταλαβαίνω την ανθρώπινη ανάγκη της να μοιράσει τις ευθύνες, όμως αυτό δεν είναι πάντα δυνατόν και το σημαντικότερο όλων, δεν είναι πάντα σωστό. Παράλληλα, η συγγραφέας, χρησιμοποιεί πάρα πολύ έντονα το στοιχείο των συμπτώσεων, σε βαθμό που αυτές χάνουν την ρεαλιστικότητά τους και το κείμενο συνολικά, την αξιοπιστία του. Ακόμα και η βία είναι συγκαλυμμένη ενώ θα μπορούσε να την διαχειριστεί με τρόπο πιο ωμό, εφόσον στο σκέλος του διαχειρισμού της έννοιας της αγάπης δεν τα καταφέρνει και τόσο καλά.

Hislop, αλλά δεν μπορώ να κάνω διαφορετικά. Ήδη ανέφερα πως την θεωρώ μια εξαιρετικά υπερτιμημένη συγγραφέα. Ναι μεν τα κείμενά της είναι διάχυτα από συναίσθημα, όμως αυτό δεν είναι πάντα αρκετό ώστε να σε κερδίσει ένα λογοτεχνικό εγχείρημα. Ειδικά όταν γίνεται με τρόπο αφελή, επιφανειακό, επίπεδο και ουδέτερο, όπως στην περίπτωση της "Ανατολής", παρά που η συγγραφέας κάνει απέλπιδες προσπάθειες να μας πείσει για το αντίθετο. Ως Γιώτα, βρήκα πολύ πεζούς και τους χαρακτήρες της, και το ψυχογράφημά τους, αλλά και το πως αλληλεπιδρούν δεδομένων των συνθηκών όπου έχουν βρεθεί και πολύ περισσότερο, δεδομένου του πως στην πραγματικότητα θέλει η ίδια η δημιουργός να μας το περάσει όλο αυτό. Ναι μεν αντιλαμβανόμαστε που το πάει αλλά, για μένα, αποτυγχάνει παταγωδώς αφού, στο τέλος, έπιασα τον εαυτό μου να μην ενδιαφέρεται για κανέναν ήρωα, ούτε για την κατάληξη αυτού. This cookie is stored by WPML WordPress plugin. The purpose of the cookie is to store the redirected language. Why did this grim-faced couple offer to drive to Cyprus? Maybe just to make some cash – but then why did they take a detour across Turkey, veering east to the plains of Anatolia where the man woke them all up one night to announce that they’d been robbed, and all their money was gone? They must’ve been delivering something, muses Victoria, green eyes dancing with amusement in her lively face, “either delivering or taking”, with herself and the others brought in as cover. A gaggle of wide-eyed young people was much less likely to attract the attention of Customs than two miserable gits in their 50s. But a lot of people suffered in Cyprus and it wasn’t the fault of women. If women could take charge and rule the world just for a month, it would be interesting to see. Just to see what happens. In the troubled areas of the world, you don’t usually find women in charge. Mrs Thatcher led us into war in the Falklands, but she is the exception. In Cyprus in the 70s, the military was not led by women.” Greek and Turkish Cypriots may work together in harmony at The Sunrise, but elsewhere tensions are rising. It all comes to a head when a Greek coup plunges the island into chaos. Turkey invades Cyprus and Famagusta is shelled. Locals leave in their droves and holidaymakers flee The Sunrise for the safety of home. Even Savvas and Aphroditi are forced to leave their beloved hotel. In amongst the ruins only two families remain and they will hang onto their homes as long as they can.Set in Cyprus in the summer of 1972, it follows the story of an ambitious couple about to open the island’s most spectacular hotel, where Greek and Turkish Cypriots work in harmony. Two neighbouring families, the Georgious and the Ozkansm, are among many who move to Famagusta to escape the years of unrest and ethnic violence elsewhere on the island. Victoria became an ambassador for LEPRA, the international leprosy charity, which enabled her to travel to India and see the work it carries out. Hislop hasn't of course been into Famagusta - no one may, even now - but has stood near the barbed wire and imagined what life was like there, then and now, with her usual gift for presenting bits of history most of us are unfamiliar with from a fictional point of view." - Independent on Sunday (UK) The Ozkans are on the same wrung of the ladder and have a lot in common with the Georgious, a factor that comes in handy when they're both marooned in a no-man's-land as the Turkish advance, leading to some extraordinarily tense moments and an explosive climax. Rose, Hilary. "Victoria Hislop on doing Strictly (the Greek one): My partner is beautiful — I can't stop looking at him". The Times . Retrieved 11 October 2021.