Coutts Woman

An Island adventure

If somebody had suggested to Victoria Hislop five years ago that she would one day top the bestsellers’ list, she would have laughed at them. At the time she was a successful freelance journalist writing on travel, education and celebrity issues and had, by her own admission, ‘no intention of writing a novel’. But then, on a family holiday to Crete, she visited the island of Spinalonga, just off its northern coast, and it changed her life.

Today her novel, The Island, has sold almost half a million copies and been translated into a dozen languages, including Croatian, German, Portuguese and, more importantly, Greek.

‘It was a bit of a thunderbolt,’ Hislop recalls about her first visit to Spinalonga. ‘As a travel writer I looked at places in a different way, but it just struck me that there was such potential for a story.’

Spinalonga, which is now uninhabited, was once Greece’s leper colony. ‘It was like a ghost town, a village that people just left,’ explains Hislop. ‘Others who have visited it have told me that they felt its real spirit.’ The Island is set during Spinalonga’s final years as a colony and weaves together fictional characters and events with documented facts about the history and daily life.

By the time Hislop’s family holiday was over, she had established ‘the basic core of the story’ in her mind. She then embarked on ‘quite a bit of research, getting little boats out to the island, and making sure that it was not an unrealistic ending. I wanted a cure to leprosy to end things and wrap up the layers’.

Over six months, Hislop planned a chapter-by-chapter synopsis of her book. The first agent she approached rejected it. ‘I was convinced it was a good story and obsessed by it, I was disappointed that this woman just hadn’t got it,’ recalls Hislop. ‘But it just made me more determined. I was aware of stories about really well known accomplished novelists being rejected by many agents, so I wasn’t too upset.’

‘I knew the first review was in the Evening Standard, and I felt so sick that I could hardly open the paper. I cried with relief when I saw it,’ she recalls.

However, the second agent she approached rang back ‘the morning he got it and asked to meet for lunch the next day. It was a really exciting moment. I was over the moon’. The agent told Hislop to write three chapters, which he would submit to a range of publishers. ‘That is fairly standard,’ she explains. ‘It is to see if the author can actually write.’

Hislop, who is married to Private Eye editor Ian, insisted that the script was not submitted to anyone who knew her. ‘How could they be objective?’ she asks. ‘Also I have friends who have been published by friends and it can become very difficult, particularly if the book doesn’t sell well.’

Several offers came back. Hislop signed with Hodder Headline and was given 18 months to finish the book. ‘I treated it like a job. I got straight to work after the children went to school. I had a 9 to 4 schedule, and was very structured. I do need short-term deadlines, so I would set myself targets that I would finish, say, chapter 17 by the end of the week.’

The hardback edition sold about 5,000 copies, creating a first impression and building up momentum for the paperback edition. ‘I knew the first review was in the Evening Standard, and I felt so sick that I could hardly open the paper. I cried with relief when I saw it,’ she recalls.

All the reviews were favourable and the paperback edition easily sold 100,000 copies; then it was selected as a Richard & Judy Summer Reads. ‘The next day it was number one on Amazon. The following week it topped the Sunday Times’ bestsellers’ list. It exceeded my wildest dreams,’ recalls Hislop.

The Island has changed Hislop’s life. ‘I get invited to lots of reading groups to discuss my novel. I have also got involved with Lepra, an association that raises money for the treatment of leprosy.’ While leprosy has been eradicated in Europe, it is still a major problem in developing countries. Hislop has visited affected regions to view Lepra’s work. ‘It is a cause that deserves my time,’ she explains.

She is also working on her next novel. ‘I am nearly halfway through although it is due for delivery in December.’ She adds: ‘It is set in Spain. I didn’t want to research a book set in a cold place. I am really superficial.’