This novel’s central figure is Helena a young girl who has striking red hair from her Scottish father and is about to learn more about her Greek mother’s homeland by spending her Summer holiday with her Greek grandparents. We gradually learn more about why her mother fled from Greece which is now under a military dictatorship. These yearly holidays take up the first part of the novel and describe foods, customs and the people of Athens. Her affection for the Mediterranean then took her to Spain, and in The Return she wrote about the painful secrets of its civil war. I loved the addition of Greek music into The Figurine. I looked up some of the songs that are referred to and listened while I was reading the book. I highly recommend doing this. It is quite an experience and made the book all the more magical to me. All in all I thought the book was okay, I would have probably found it a better read on holiday. It’s an easy to follow simple and quite twee read. In all honestly I probably won’t read another of the authors books while liked the historical aspects I wasn’t into the family saga and romance. I like characters with nuance and who are explored deeply the characters were too 2D.

I found the novel very long for what it was, throughout you are teased something bad is going to happen but it never really does. At the writing is flat and the characters did not come to life for me, in the same way Greece does, with clear ‘baddies’ and ‘goodies’ and not much in between which left the writing feel quite childish. Which was a shame given the important point I believe the author was trying to make. Helena's desire to find answers about her heritage dovetails with a growing curiosity for archaeology, ignited by a summer spent with volunteers on a dig on an Aegean island. Their finds fuel her determination to protect the precious fragments recovered from the baked earth - and to understand the origins of her grandfather's collection. Victoria HIslop writes about Greece and Greek history with passion and thorough research. The Figurine is her latest novel which aims to provide the reader with Greek history, language, culture and description wrapped up in a story with interesting characters. This time the tale is told from the point of view of Helena Macleod, daughter of a Scottish father and a Greek mother. As a child Helena makes annual summer visits to her grandparents in Athens where she perfects her Greek language, loves the family housekeeper and finds it difficult to have a relationship with her strict grandfather or her creepy uncle. The political turmoil of Greece in the 1970s put an end to her visits until after the death of her grandparents when she visits again with her parents. She begins to find out more about why her mother left Greece as a young woman never to return until after the death of her parents. The only follow-up treatment was three weeks of daily radiotherapy and then a standard drug taken by many women who have had hormone-receptive breast cancer: Letrozole, which suppresses your hormones. I felt so fortunate. I had got through it all and felt almost on a high. 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 moment Fenia asked me to take part, I felt light-headed. I needed something to lift my spirits and to get me out of what felt like a ditch. Was this it? I had long been a Strictly fan, inspired by the level of skill amateurs can reach. Happy to dance in private, like most female viewers I had often fantasised about what it would feel like to be held aloft by Johannes Radebe (my all-time favourite) or Giovanni Pernice. In her irresistible new novel, Sunday Times No 1 bestselling author Victoria Hislop shines a light on the questionable acquisition of cultural treasures and the price people - and countries - will pay to cling on to them. Of all the ancient art that captures the imagination, none is more appealing than the Cycladic figurine. Victoria Hislop not only writes a wonderful story, her evocative descriptions of the Greek landscape bring to life the beauty of Greece as a whole. Her descriptions are so rich it takes little imagination to conjure up the sights, smells, people, culture and history of Athens and the Greek islands. The Figurine shines a light on the questionable acquisition of cultural treasures and the price people and countries will pay to cling on to them. The Figurine is a captivating tale of one woman's quest to come to terms with her family's brutal past.

Her grandfather is a stern, formidable man, with a cruel streak that she recognises even at such a young age. He was a general in the junta when Greece was under a brutal military dictatorship and anyone who didn’t agree could be made to disappear. Her grandmother, however is kind and generous, but she never defies or criticizes her husband.Along the way, she falls in love with the narrow streets of Athens and the city's big-hearted residents, who show her the murky underbelly of the antiques world - and help her understand the meaning of home. But can she finally make amends for her grandfather's actions? And what price should be paid for the return of such ancient and beautiful artefacts?

There is no doubting Victoria Hislop is an incredible storyteller who has opened up the history of Greece to a wider contemporary world; her attention to detail and the creation of warm and sympathetic characters instantly grabs readers' Real Reader Review, ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ Helena’s desire to find answers about her heritage dovetails with a growing curiosity for archaeology, ignited by a summer spent with volunteers on a dig on an Aegean island. Their finds fuel her determination to protect the precious fragments recovered from the baked earth – and to understand the origins of her grandfather’s collection.Of all the ancient art that captures the imagination, none is more appealing than the Cycladic figurine. An air of mystery swirls around these statuettes from the Bronze Age and they are highly sought after by collectors - and looters - alike. Along the way, she falls in love with the narrow streets of Athens and the city’s big-hearted residents, who show her the murky underbelly of the antiques world – and help her understand the meaning of home. But can she finally make amends for her grandfather’s actions? And what price should be paid for the return of such ancient and beautiful artefacts? I would have to be away from London for months. My Greek might not be good enough to understand when I was being berated for sloppy footwork. My bunions would never squeeze into dancing shoes.