Book cover of Maria's Island

Book description

A dramatic and moving story set in the same world as the international bestseller The Island from the celebrated novelist Victoria Hislop.
The absorbing story of the Cretan village of Plaka and the tiny, deserted island of Spinalonga - Greece's former leper colony - is told to us by Maria…


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Why read it?

1 author picked Maria's Island as one of their favorite books. Why do they recommend it?

I have enjoyed Victoria’s books and was particularly interested by her stories of the Greek island of Spinalonga and its lepers’ colony. This is her story of Spinalonga written for children. Using English and Greek, Rita’s grandmother tells her about the photo that she has seen in her grandmother’s house during holiday visits to the Crete village of Plaka.

I enjoyed hearing with Rita about her mother, Maria, and the role she played in the history of Spinalonga. The story covers the shame and stigma of leprosy with compassion. I was interested to read about how a cure for…

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“Hanna’s story...uncovers an astonishing, rich vein of hope in a world gone utterly dark. Both timeless and timely.”

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Hanna Slivka is on the cusp of fourteen when Hitler's army crosses the border into Soviet-occupied Ukraine. Soon, the Gestapo closes…

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