Helen lives in Scotland. Her mother is Greek and her father Scottish. Although her mother is estranged from her parents, she sends Helen to visit her grandparents for the first time in 1968.

Helen discovers Greece mostly through enjoyable days, but she soon realises that there is an undercurrent of something she is uncomfortable with. She has her first encounter with the beautiful Cycladic statuettes and is mesmerised by their stunning beauty and simplicity. Growing up, Helen discovers the role her grandfather played in the regime of the junta at the time, and feels deeply challenged by this. But things get even more complicated when she inherits the appartement of her grandparents. She finds herself in the middle of a complex web of illegal operations, linked to the political regime her grandfather belonged to, but continuing into the present and widening to new actors and on a larger scale. She decides to do something about it.

Some would say the novel has a slow rhythm. I personally felt that it was good to take the time to go through the different moments in Helen’s life and how they build up into the project she takes on. The story is also very evocative and I enjoyed being taken on a journey through Greece, the sceneries, the way of life, the social relations among people, and the many references to history.

The heart of the book is about the challenging topic of who archeological and cultural treasures belong to. Where should they be kept and should they be traded. Victoria Hislop makes reference to Elgin and the columns he brought back to the UK and sold to the British Museum, to the popularity of the Cycladic statuettes resulting from the inspiration they brought to modern art, and creates a story that brings various aspects of Illegal smuggling and cultural desecration together. The well researched book also brings hope when it evokes the tenacity of people who fight these criminal operations, and the help science can bring to this work.

Beyond being a pleasant and very well written book, it is also one that brings a lot of food for thought.

I found the video presentation by Victoria Hislop very interesting at https://youtu.be/-BZOoAliTxo?si=ANAXZImdsKJU-7lO

It started so well and engaged me immediately with believable descriptions of Helena visiting Athens as a child. The characters were well drawn and it really gave a flavour of the life and times.
Unfortunately it seemed to move quite slowly and although the story moved on several years I was surprised to find I was still only a fraction of the way into the book. By the time Helena was leaving university I was skipping pages to move things along..
I was taught a lot more detail about the history of Greece than I was previously aware of and the book definitely gives you a greek experience but was too slow moving for my taste.

A lengthy read at a very slow pace. We follow Helena half Greek and half Scot on a voyage of discovery tinged with dismay . A lot is research obviously went into this book and makes us aware of the illegality surrounding Greek Artefacts for greed and gain. A lot of background around the main characters and I felt lost between personal storyline and historical narestivd

The Figurine is Victoria Hislop at her finest. This book has everything: Greek and International Politics, History, Family Politics, Tombraiders and Romance. It is written in exquisite detail and covers a vast expanse of history.

"Helena stood at the top of the aircarft steps blinking into the sunlight, a hot breeze blowing strands of hair across her face. Why was everything so shimmering? So dazzingly bright?"

In 1968 Helena vistis her Greek grandparents for the first time. She knows all about her Greek heritage and knows her mother is estranged from her parents, but she doesn't know why. Helena's grandmother is loving and welcoming but from the beginning Helena notices a distance to her grandfather. Throughout the book Helena, and the reader, come to dislike the man intensely.

"She couldn't tell her grandmother that she found him frightening, and only admitted to herself that she was happier on the days when he was not around."

It isn't until much later she discovers from her mother quite how distasteful a man her grandfather is. He was responsible for a number of atrocious acts in Greek history. With this knowledge Helena becomes interested in Greek history and politics alongside the passion she already has for Greek culture.

"You understand that my father was part of all that...that repression. It's why I left Greece and have never been back. I didn't want to have anything to do with it."

Helena's initial love of Greece continues into adulthood and when she finds herself with an opportunity to return in adulthood she jumps at the opportunity. As a result Helena ends up uncovering Greek historical artefacts being stolen and sold in foreign countries for extortionate prices. Helena is outraged and decides something must be done.

"And it belongs to the island where it was found. To Greece. To all of us."

Helena gets drawn into the world of looting artefacts from ancient Greece. and becomes determined to gain revenge on, and expose the men behind a multi million euro business . Another fascinating novel from Victoria Hislop opening up events in Greece .

Not what I expected, but I loved this book. So often Victoria Hislop’s books are about a period in history rather than the characters.. not his one. The characters drive the story and the central theme is archaeological crimes. Handled lightly enough, the story has real moral impact , and is a well written, intelligent discussion on how we view the past and who owns it.

Although I’m a big fan of Victoria Hislop I really struggled with this one. The story didn’t engage with me and I found it all a bit too descriptive for my liking.

This is my first Victoria Hislop novel and I enjoyed it.

It was fascinating to learn so much history but have mystery and romance woven into the story.

Victoria Hislop clearly has extensive knowledge about Ancient Greece and has made it very accessible to readers. The sections of the book set in Athens were very evocative of the atmosphere there and it was great to picture myself visiting again.

Thank you for the opportunity to read 'The Figurine'.

A brilliant read. The opening chapters, detailing Helena’s time with her grandparents in Athens pulled me in straight away. I felt I was there with them experiencing the sights and sounds of the Greek capital and bringing back memories of my own time there. Victoria Hislop is excellent at bringing fact and fiction together and blending them into a compulsive read. I had difficulty putting this down, I think I could easily have locked myself away in a room until I had finished it. Frustratingly, that was not possible.
Charting Helena’s journey from child to adult, we see a young woman of mixed heritage – Scottish father and Greek mother - raised in Scotland, but regularly visiting Greece to spend summers with her grandparents. There she develops her Greek and immerses herself in their culture. As her journey to adulthood takes her forward, her connection with Greece remains, even though political issues prevent her from visiting. But the highlight of the story has to be the history of Greek civilisation and her involvement in helping bring looters of historical artifacts to justice. A fascinating story and one which stayed with me long after the last page.

I would like to thank Headline, Victoria Hislop and Netgalley for an ARC of The Figurine in exchange for an honest review

The story tells of a young girl who takes yearly childhood trips on her own to visit a Greek grandmother . We learn early on in the story that her own mother is estranged from both her parents, but not exactly why. As the story progresses it becomes clear that the grandfather is a strict disciplinarian and has been part of the military dictatorship ruling Greece for a number of years.
I didn’t know very much about Greek modern history, until I read this novel, which really did explain to me a lot of things about the country. The novel really is very firmly based in Greece and country acts as if it were a an additional character in the story.
The author has an easy flowing, relaxing, prose style, and this book really was a relaxing read it would be ideal to take on holiday . I suppose the novel probably is best placed within the ChickLit category of writing, and I felt that it didn’t quite have the intensity of emotion and depth that her previous novel The Island had for example.
A lot of the novel deals with the stripping of Greeks archaeological ruins, for profit. The figurine of the title is a an ancient Greek artefact found by one of the characters. It is hard to mention archaeological plunder without mentioning Lord Elgin and his theft of Greek antiquities . The ethics behind this practice was mentioned so many times in the story, but it did start to feel a little preachy . As a reader, I would’ve preferred to come to my own opinion, rather than have the authors opinion made so clear to me.
I was sent a copy of this book to take part in a book blog tour with random things tours in the book is published in the UK on the 28th of September 2023 by Headline books
This review will be published first, as part of the random things blog tour and subsequently on NetGalley, UK good reads and my book blog, bionicsarahsbooks.wordpress.com.m After publication the review will appear on Amazon, UK

I was lucky to get a Netgalley ARC of Victoria Hislop’s The Figurine in return for an honest review and here it is!

I was really looking forward to reading this book as my October choice for the #neglectedfaithfuls challenge as I’d enjoyed her books before.

The book is about Helena McCloud (don’t get me started on this unusual spelling of the name, I’ve known McLeods and MacLeods and Mcleods and Macleods but I’ve never known a McCloud but, hey, I Googled it and it exists so move on, Lynn!) the daughter of a Scottish father and a Greek mother. We first meet her aged eight on a solo visit to her grandparents in Athens in the late 1960s. Their home is opulent, her gran seems kind enough but her grandfather is a different kettle of fish, a cruel authoritarian with a series of mysterious visitors. There’s also a creepy ‘uncle’ also hangs around. Strangely her grandparents never talk about her mum. Helena grows up, studies chemistry at Oxford, and learns the shameful history of her family. She gets romantically involved with a bad ‘un who ends up getting entangled with a member of her Greek family. In the end Helena gets the opportunity to make some reparations for her family’s past actions and incriminates her ex boyfriend for his.

This should have been a good book. It started with promise but I found it dragging in the middle. I started to flick through the pages and, though it picked up, it never really took off. It remained in ‘meh territory’ as I put it. The plot was flimsy in places, many of the characters were one dimensional with some just happening to have a friend who had friends who could smooth things out for Helena. I thought that some of Helena’s actions weren’t in keeping with her education and experience and some things were just too good to be true.

At over 500 pages this book would have benefitted from tighter editing. Finally, I wish I’d got the audio version of this book because it’s got a lot of Greek in it (even quotations from books) and I wanted to hear the correct pronunciation, not some barbaric garble in my head.

“The theft of cultural treasures and the falsification of provenance diminishes our understanding of civilisation. Every object illegally removed, smuggled and sold impoverishes the victim country …. Beauty has always cast its spell, but down the ages has always driven some to crime.” - from Foreword.

My thanks to Headline Review for an eARC via NetGalley of ‘The Figurine’ by Victoria Hislop.

The figurine of the title and cover is a Cycladic statuette from the Bronze Age. These examples of ancient art have an air of mystery that captures the imagination. As a result they are highly sought after by collectors and looters alike.

‘The Figurine’ opens in 1968 and continues into the 1980s. It provides plenty information about Greek history and culture during this period while powerfully evoking its landscape and the lives of its peoples.

It is also a coming-of-age story focusing on Helena McCloud, whose mother, Mary, was Greek. Mary had married Hamish McCloud, a young GP living in England and had been estranged from her family in Athens for years.

In 1968 eight-year-old Helena travels to Athens to spend the first of a number of summers with her maternal grandparents. At this time Greece is ruled by a brutal military dictatorship. Helena soon realises that her grandfather had been one of the regime’s generals. We follow Helena through a number of visits and later she attends Oxford and studies chemistry.

Just before the start of her final year Helena falls under the spell of the charming Nicholas Hayes-Jones. He is leaving to volunteer at an archaeological dig on an Aegean island. He invites Helena to join him. She agrees. However, while there she becomes concerned about suspicious activities.

The summer following her graduation Helena inherits her grandparents’ large flat in Athens. While clearing it ready for sale she discovers a trove of valuable antiquities along with evidence that her late grandfather had been involved in the trafficking of illegal antiquities.

Her curiosity about her heritage dovetails with a growing interest in archaeology. Underpinning this is her determination to protect these precious fragments recovered from the earth and make reparation for her grandfather’s crimes.

Helena at times seemed very young and naive, though given her age and background it wasn’t that surprising. There were also elements of romance that I felt was well integrated into the larger narrative.

I found the material about the trade in illegal antiquities compelling. As Hislop’s Foreword indicated this is clearly an issue close to her heart.

Overall, I found ‘The Figurine’ an engaging read that was also informative on various issues. Victoria Hislop is a wonderful writer whose rich descriptions effortlessly transported me into the time and place of her story.

I have just finished reading this exciting and informative read. As an ex-professional archaeologist myself, the details rang mostly very true, and it was fascinating to discover smugglers specialising in antiquities, and how are they achieve their crime.

The first third of the book moved quite slowly for me but the characters were believable, and it almost seemed like a separate story, but set the scene and explained Helena’s links with Greece.

For me, the book could have started when Helena goes off to university, yet we hear very little about her time spent there. However, it gets very interesting at the end of her third summer when she goes on her first dig and her life partly moves to London.

I thought the story line was quite inevitable but nonetheless enjoyable, and Hislop’s characterisation is impeccable, especially regarding the dreadful male characters in the novel..

I read The Figurine quite soon after The Island, both were incredibly evocative of Greece, but personally I did prefer The Island.

Hislop is a highly descriptive author, who knows her subject matter well and draws you into an action-packed storyline, and I’m sure I will read more of her works.

This unbiased review was written in exchange for an advance copy of the novel from the publishers

An enjoyable story set against a backdrop of Greek history from the sixties. Helena is sent every summer to stay with her Greek grandparents in Athens. With mixed feelings about her loving grandmother and stern, detached grandfather the historical context is revealed. Later Helena returns, in love, to help on an archaeological dig which brings the past and the present together.

As always with Victoria Hislop books, this was an enjoyable tale set against the back drop of Greece during a particular period of history. Set during two different timelines - the main character's childhood spent in Athens with her grandparents in the early 1970's and then in the 1980's, she discovers that family secrets should be best left alone but endeavours to uncover the truth and put things right for those involved.

This was a wonderful read. Not only was it an engaging story line but also a vivid picture of Greece and the people who live there. A well researched book as always and I felt that my knowledge was a little richer for reading this book. Highly recommended.

Victoria Hislop always produces interesting, well researched historical reads and “The Figurine” is a perfect example. Once I picked up this book I found it very difficult to put it down.
In this one, the author has crafted a wonderful story about a young girl’s relationship with Greece and her desire to protect the beautiful historical artefacts the country produces.
Helena has been visiting Athens since she was a young child, sent every summer to visit her Mother’s parents in their flat in the capital.
Unaware of the political turmoil in the country including the military dictatorship, nor of her strict authoritarian Grandfather’s part in it, Helena just enjoys the sunshine, ice creams and her YaYa (Grandmother). She wonders why her mother and father prefer to stay at home in their small English village but doesn’t really enquire too closely. Her trips to military parades are not particularly enjoyable but to be endured as part of her holiday.
As she grows up she realises that her Grandfather is a terrible man but still enjoys her visits to Greece where she starts to the learn the language and connects with her Grandmother. She fears her Grandfather but once he passes away she finds her Grandmother a much lighter person.
Finally, after both her grandparents’ deaths she visits Greece with her parents and learns more about Greek history from her mother and then some other heartbreaking news.
At university she returns to Greece to take part in an archaeological dig and discovers that artefacts found can easily be stolen and sold for excessive amounts of money by some very unscrupulous people.
I loved the story of Helena, how she grows to love her Greek heritage, her life at University in the 1980s which truth be told actually reminded me a bit of my time studying in the same time frame!
Her return to Greece and her inheritance of the apartment leading to her subsequent discoveries was a great finale to the book. The characters were all well rounded, particularly Helena and her family and of course her Greek friends. The historical detail was incredibly interesting- I knew so little about this period in Greek history and now I feel I know a bit more about these turbulent times.
The problem of the plundering of archeological artefacts was something I’d heard about but never deeply contemplated. “The Figurine” certainly brought it to the forefront of my mind.
By the time I’d finished the book I was mentally booking a trip to Athens in order to see more of the country and the beautiful historical sights described.
Thanks to NetGalley and Headline for my advance copy.

The Figurine by Victoria Hislop is another interesting novel with glorious Greece as the main backdrop.
In short, we follow Helena’s quest to come to terms with her family’s brutal past in Greece during the Greek junta dictatorship in the 60’s.
I’ve read and enjoyed Victoria’s book’s in the past so was looking forward to reading The Figurine and I can confirm that it’s another well written, well researched and well told story. This novel was inspired by third millennium bc figurines found buried in Greece and illegally removed, smuggled and sold through criminal gangs on an international scale…and from this Victoria has crafted another compelling and captivating story.
Big thanks to Victoria Hislop, Headline and NetGalley for this eARC which I chose to read in return for my honest review.

Helena Mcloud is half Greek and half Scottish. As a child she visits her Greek grandparents in Athens alone, unsure of the rift between them and her mother.
She has completed her third year (of four) studying chemistry at Oxford University and attends a Greek theatrical production by the English department. She is mesmerised by Nick, who plays the lead role. He invites her to an archeological dig on the Greek island of Nisos. This results in another visit the following year.
All is not as it seems and as truths come out, the one sure thing is how much her father loves her.
What a wonderful read, so emotive and descriptive - giving a real sense of being in the various locations.
I loved Helena and her determination.

Victoria Hislop's books are classics. Well written, and which take you to other places and times and bring them vividly to life. This book is no exception and again shows why Ms Hislop is a master of her craft.

Helena is half Greek and half Scottish. Whilst her Greek mother feels that she should know about her Greek heritage and lets her spend summers with Helena's Grandparents in Greece, her mother will never go back to see her parents again. Her father was the worst kind of General under a brutal dictatorship, and thought nothing of imprisoning anyone who disagreed with the regime, sentencing them effectively to death or worse

When Helena inherits their apartment, she finds out just how disgusting her father was, and is determined to right some wrongs. Meanwhile she has been helping out on some archaeological digs, and she find out that looting these ancient Greeks treasures is still rife, and decides to bring some of the perpetrators to justice with the help of some influential friends.

An exciting, beautifully crafted, story - fully evocative of the time and place. It highlights the all to real issues of many Greek treasures dishonestly ending up sold all over the world. Another Victoria Hislop triumph.