1968 and little Helena McCloud is headed to Athens on her own. Helena is meeting her Grandparents for the first time. She has been forewarned by her mother that her grandfather may be formal with her. Helena likes her grandmother, her Yiayiá.
The book moves through the years as Helena has repeat summer visits to Greece, to see her grandmother and improve her Greek language. It mentions certain events in History that happened over the years in the timescale of the book, events that invoked memories because of their significance.
The book also moves between Helena’s time spent in Greece, and her life in England.
There are sightseeing trips, and the book reminds myself of a lovely visit to Athens I had some years back.
I loved the interesting facts peppered throughout the book, describing them so well, and the mention of the different food types just made me wish I were back in Greece.
Bonding, growing up, and sharing knowledge and life experiences, through the years and chapters.
I found some very interesting topics in the book, and I enjoyed reading this enormously, so very interesting.
The story had me completely hooked.
Many thanks to NetGalley and Publisher for an advanced e-book copy. Opinions about the book are entirely my own.

I adore Victoria Hislop novels and this new one certainly didn't disappoint. She's always so good at capturing Greece on the page - not just the location, but the whole ethos of Greek being and culture. The start of this book reminded me a bit of Captain Corelli's Mandolin as it depicted historical events as seen by ordinary people. As it moved on I was just fascinated as it delved into Greek antiquity and archaeology which are other great interests of mine. A brilliant read. Highly recommend.

There is no Victoria Hislop book that I have read that I haven't loved and The Figurine was no exception. Hislop transported me to Athens and I felt as if I was walking the streets with Helena. I learnt so much from The Figurine about the history of Greece, as I did with Those Who Are Loved.
The story was clever, although perhaps a little long in places. I adore Hislop's writing so that didn't bother me.
Whilst there were a few laughs in The Figurine, I was moved on a number of occasions too and I really loved all the friendships Helena made on her journey, which were so heartwarming.
An absolute joy to read.

A lovely story steeped in Greek history that this author is famous for.
Helena spends many of her childhood summers with her Grandparents in Athens Greece. Her Mum is Greek and her Dad Scottish and although her Mother is keen for Helena to explore her Greek Heritage, she has no desire to travel back to her family homeland.
Helena feels a strong connection with the place and adores her Grandmother and the housekeeper but is apprehensive when it comes to her Grandfather.
As the story continues over the years into Helena’s adulthood, she becomes involved with Greek archaeology and the crimes that are committed both historically and present.
As usual with Victoria Hislop books, it is written with great knowledge and passion that made for an interesting and pleasurable read.
My thanks to Headline and Net Galley for the ARC of this book.

This is the best novel I have read in a long time. It starts in 1968 when 8 year old Helene McCloud goes to Greece to visit her grandparents for the first time. Her mother, Mary, left home to study at university in England as she hated her father so much. She swore to never go back until he was dead.
Helene soon learns to hate her grandfather as much as her mother. He was a high ranking official during the war and the cruel regime of the colonels. Helene learns Greek and is fascinated by the history of the country and the more she discovers about her grandfather’s cruelty during the war the more she despises him.
Helene studies Chemistry at Oxford and meets a charismatic student, Nick, who is leaving Oxford after graduation and going on an archeological dig to a Greek Island, he suggests Helene should join him. She soon learns about the looting that is going on in the islands but it’s not until her second dig that she realises Nick is one of the looters.
There is so much interesting history woven throughout the book as well as the corruption surrounding the antiquities that are traded. Helene is determined to try and give some retribution to the people her grandfather had imprisoned and at the same time stop as much of the illegal trading she has discovered while on her digs and through the journals she has found amongst her grandfather’s possessions.

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This story begins in 1968 when Helena was 8 years old and visiting hr grandparents in Greece. It continues on through to the 1980s. This story covers a good deal of the political situation in Greece and how gradually as Helena gets older, so she has a greater understanding of the situation as regards to her own family. Helena was a little naive at times but she did eventually realise what was happening. This was a well researched book, not only the sights and sounds of the areas but also the way the artefacts that were discovered, were treated. In particular, the way unscrupulous people used them to obtain vast amounts of money. This was an engaging story, there is someone romance but Helena is mainly concerned with trying to put right past injustices and also revenge for the way she was used. It does have a very satisfying ending. I received a copy and have voluntarily reviewed it. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

Victoria gives wonderful descriptions of Greece & it’s islands. Helena travels to Athens to see her grandma in her summer holidays. She has one memorable holiday in Greece with her parents, described in glorious detail. After university Helena travels to Greece & the main story unfolds. I too found the book a little long.
All the earlier parts took us on Helena’s journey, explaining her background, leading us to the main event.
I received an Advanced Reader Copy from NetGalley. I am writing a voluntary honest review.

It's the late 60s and Helena is going on holiday to Athens to visit her mother's parents. Grandparents she has never met before. Her Grandmother is lovely, but her Grandfather is a stern military man.
As she returns there for her annual holiday she learns more about her family and her dislike of her Grandfather and her Uncle Arsenis grows. When her Grandfather dies and she visits her Grandmother, both are much more relaxed.
Roll forward many years and Helena falls in love with another student and goes on dig on Nisos. She loves Nick and doesn't hesitate when he asks to put something in her bag for his friend and landlord when they return to London. During the next year, she finds out that she has finally inherited her Grandparents flat in Athens and flies out to start sorting out the contents. She meets lots of new friends, including Haris and Anna who are antique dealers. Nick decides to come to the apartment before she goes to see him on that years dig. She is horrified when they bump into her horrible Uncle Arsenis and Nick bonds with him instantly.
Later, at the dig they have a massive row and split up on the last day. She realises that he is not the man that she thought and is completely motivated by money.
Returning to the Athens apartment she discovers evidence that could incriminate a lot of people and decides to push on with her discovery.
This is a typical Victoria Hislop book. A good story set against a backdrop of events happening at time. I thoroughly enjoyed it.

i am a fan on this author so when i saw this i just had to read it.
i just get lost in her books, her descriptions of greece make me want ti pack up and go there, the story just draws you in and i didn’t want to put it down.
the perfect holiday read or just a perfect read to lose yourself in

Thank you for this ARC. A very enjoyable book for me. I loved all the facts about everything Greek from artefacts to the political events. Victoria Hislop certainly does a lot of research before weaving it into a story. One of my favourites from her.

I’ve been a massive fan of Victoria Hislop’s books since reading The Island back in 2006. So when I was offered an ARC of her latest book I jumped at the chance. This book started off for me as a great read and I was really looking forward to becoming immersed in the story. Unfortunately as the story progressed I found it became a tad boring and nothing exciting seemed to happen. There is a lot of talk about greek architecture and truthfully these parts didn’t keep my interest and went over my head at times. I found it difficult to bond with any of the characters and found Helena to be quite naive at times. However on the plus side the descriptions of Greece were as always described wonderfully by Hislop and these parts of the book I loved. As I’m reading I can literally picture being in Athens sitting drinking coffee at one of the Tavernas or eating a Greek meal. I know lots of people will love this book but sadly it just fell a bit flat for me ⭐️⭐️⭐️

I really enjoyed this book.
The story is told through Helena in two timelines, as a child spending summers with her grandparents in Athens and in adult life following the death of her mother.
Set in Greece and England. The settings are very well described. You get to read lots about Greek history and antique dealings. There’s romance and betrayal too.
It’s written with great knowledge, a strong plot and great characters.
I definitely recommend. I couldn’t put it down.
Thanks to #NetGallery @Headline for an arc of #TheFigurine in exchange for a honest review. All opinions are my own.
Book publishes 28th September 2023.

This is the first novel I have read by this author, and it really gripped my attention!
The beginning was slow to build up, but was careful in all details and took time to introduce the characters.
Helena McCloud goes to Greece to see her grandparents for a holiday. Her mother has been estranged from her father for many years, for reasons that become clearer as the story progresses. Mary McCloud will not return to Greece until her father is dead. Helena learns that her grandfather held a position of power during the war, his cruelty affected so many families , and her grandmother appears frightened of him. Grandfather is not kind, harsh in his treatment of her, and he actually strikes her with a stick when she makes errors with her language skills. After Grandfather dies, there is a great sea change, her Grandmother is not in mourning clothes, seems brighter in spirits and photographs of both her mother and her late brother are now on display. Mary decides to return to Greece for a long delayed family reunion with her husband, Hamish and Helena.
Several years later, Helena is living in her late grandparents apartment and is meeting young people and is slowly becoming aware of the politics that have recently caused great change to the country. Her family history is part of these troubles, and grandfather had a shady past both with his Army career and the antiquities trade.
After joining an archeological dig, Helena becomes fascinated with the history of her ancestors and is greatly disturbed by such sites being looted and treasures being smuggled out of the country. Helena realises that she must make reparations for the harm her family has done, this may expose family secrets but a grave wrong must be put right.
I found this to be a fascinating read, full of historical and political facts. I remember this time well, I had friends who had married RAF personnel and were based in Akrotri, and the fear that Britain may be forced to enter into a war, turned the novelty about living abroad into fears about their safety.
The excitement about finding hidden treasures was portrayed really well, not just for fame and fortune, but understanding skills and the life of long ago times. Not the normal happy ever after read, but a book filled with acceptance of faults and failings and their impact upon both people and their culture.
My thanks to Netgalley and Headline Publishers for my digital advance copy, freely given in exchange for my honest review. A five star read. I shall certainly try other novels from this author. I will leave reviews to Goodreads and Amazon UK.

My first introduction to Victoria Hislop was The Island, which still remains in my top 5 books of all time. As with her other books, this book was extremely well researched and I learnt a lot about Greece under the control of the Colonels and about Greek artefacts etc, both of which I found very interesting and I did my own research too. Having visited Athens myself, I felt like I was there with Helena, particularly looking at the Parthenon and walking the streets. I enjoyed reading about Helena when she was a child the most and although this book was a slow burner and quite long, it built to a good ending. This would make a great holiday read, especially if you are anywhere in Greece, it certainly made me want to go away just reading it! Thank you to NetGalley and Headline for letting me read and review this book.

I loved this! Absolutely raced through it and although I had an inkling was very happy with the ending. One of my books of the year

Hislop clearly loves Greece and knows her recent and ancient history. I found the first part of the novel a little stretched out but it did set the scene. The final two thirds were truly excellent.

I didn't enjoy this one as much as her other books and found it just a little political and slow. I usually enjoy Victoria's books alot, but, this one didn't hit the spot. My thanks to netgalley and the publishers for giving me the opportunity to read this book in return for an honest review.

This book was truly superb it its breath of vision in the depth of extensive research that the author made before putting pen to paper. I have never read a Victoria Hislop book before and I only chose this one after a long conversation during a car journey with a friend who was very impressed with her previous books. My only visit to Greece was a holiday trip to Crete many years ago but even if I never visit the country again it is always interesting to read about its history which is considerably .explained in this title. My only criticism is that I felt that the book was a bit too long but as it covered a lot of time going from the main characters fascinating childhood visits to Athens up to her later post university ones perhaps that was justified.
Thank you to NetGalley and Headline for the advance copy of this book .

The Figurine starts in 1968 as eight year old Helena McCloud travels alone to Athens to spend the school summer holidays with her maternal grandparents. who she's not met before. Her Greek mother, Mary, and Scottish father, Hamish, have not come with her as Mary has been estranged from her parents for many years.

Helena’s grandparents live in a very well-to-do area and have a flat decorated with grand furniture and art. Her grandmother, Eleni Papagiannis is a kindly woman but her grandfather, Stamatis, is a General in the army and has a cruel streak to him. The maid, Dino, takes a shine to Helena and they develop a good friendship. Helena visits a few more times in the summer and enjoys her time with her grandmother and Dino but discovers more about her grandfather and his evil control over others. She also meets her grandfather's nephew, Arsenis, who takes Helena on day trips occasionally. He does not behave well towards her and she takes an intense dislike to him and tries to avoid him when she can despite being her uncle. After a few years she is unable to visit too as Greece is in civil war and it is too dangerous to go. It is interesting to learn more about the political situation in Greece in the 60s and 70s but this book did feel too long at times.

The plot moves to 1980 and Helena is now a young chemistry student at Oxford who takes the chance to return to Greece as a boy she has met is volunteering as an archaeological dig there and persuades her to join him. The plot speeds up in the last half as there is some dastardly business going on with ancients items being illegally removed from the dig.

It was a compelling read in many respects as I wanted to find out what happened to Helena but I wasn’t that invested in her or any of the characters really. Towards the end several things happened that were rather too convenient plot devices to solve the mystery of the illegal digs and uncover the perpetrators involved. One was a was a ‘chance’ encounter with two elderly sisters, one blind, who seemed to have a houseful of relics from digs but this was never really followed up other than them telling Helena of the people who came to dig illegally once the teams had left the dig site.

A decent read but long and not as enjoyable as the author's previous books.

With thanks to NetGalley and Headline for a free copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Thank you NetGalley for the opportunity to read this novel pre-publication. I’ve enjoyed several books by the author previously and looked forward to reading this as someone who has an interest in Greek history and archaeology.
The early chapters felt ploddingly slow but persistence in reading did bring some improvement.
There is some insight into Greek political history through the protagonist’s visits to her maternal grandparents, as well as the contribution to the debate of theft of ancient artefacts and organised crime. That contribution to the ongoing debate is welcome, however, as a novel, this was less enjoyable than other works by the author, with some predictable plot and less engaging characterisation. Disappointed, really.