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by Victoria Hislop
Summer 1972 - Famagusta is Cyprus's most glamorous city and the most desirable tourist destination in the Mediterranean, and the Papacostas are right at the center of it. Aphroditi and her husband Savvas own The Sunrise, a wildly successful new luxury hotel. Frequented by only the very wealthiest of Europe's elite, The Sunrise - especially its alluring nightclub - quickly becomes the place to see and be seen. Yet beneath the veneer of tranquil opulence simmers mounting hostility between the Greeks and the Turks. Years of unrest and ethnic violence come to a head when, in 1974, Greece's coup d'état provokes a Turkish attack on beautiful Famagusta.
The fallout sends the island's inhabitants spiraling into fear and chaos, and the Papacostas join an exodus of people who must abandon their idyllic lives in Famagusta and flee to refugee camps. In the end, only two families remain in the decimated city: the Özkans and the Georgious. One is Turkish Cypriot, the other Greek Cypriot and the tension between them is palpable. But with resources scarce and the Turkish militia looming large, both families must take shelter in the deserted hotel as they battle illness, hunger, fear, and their own prejudices while struggling to stay alive.
Juxtaposing a powerful narrative of war against the glittering affluence of the 1970s Mediterranean coast, The Sunrise is a moving story about the measures we take to protect what we love.
"Moving and, at times, nail-biting...Book groups who enjoyed... The Kite Runner and Kristin Hannah's The Nightingale will dig into this novel in which politics trumps privilege but not family." - Booklist
"Hislop captures well the dreamy and Edenic time before the occupation as well as the fear and chaos afterward." - Kirkus
"Hislop hasn't of course been into Famagusta - no one may, even now - but has stood near the barbed wire and imagined what life was like there, then and now, with her usual gift for presenting bits of history most of us are unfamiliar with from a fictional point of view." - Independent on Sunday (UK)
"Vibrant... Hislop brings history to life in this compelling tale." - Tatler (UK)
"Hislop brings her consummate storytelling skills to this enthralling tale of love, marriage and a community all put to the test." - Woman & Home (UK)
"Heartbreaking... A fascinating insight into a part of Mediterranean history that isn't often explored." - Essentials (UK)
"An imaginative tour de force, and a great read." - Daily Mail (UK)
"Fascinating." - Sunday Mirror (UK)
"Hislop's writing effectively weaves the personal into the political without ever becoming overbearing. An informative but equally emotional read." - Woman
Fascinating and moving... Hislop writes unforgettably about Cyprus and its people." - The Times (UK)
"An absorbing tale about family, friendship, loyalty and betrayal, set during a violent period in the history of Cyprus." - Good Housekeeping (UK)
"Intelligent and immersive... Hislop's incisive narrative weaves a vast array of fact through a poignant, compelling family saga." - The Sunday Times (UK)
"Some beautiful writing about a difficult period in time makes for a great read." - The Sun (UK)
"Adroitly plotted and deftly characterised, Hislop's gripping novel tells the stories of ordinary Greek and Turkish families trying to preserve their humanity in a maelstrom of deception, betrayal and ethnic hatred." - Mail on Sunday (UK)
This information about The Sunrise was first featured
in "The BookBrowse Review" - BookBrowse's membership magazine, and in our weekly "Publishing This Week" newsletter. Publication information is for the USA, and (unless stated otherwise) represents the first print edition. The reviews are necessarily limited to those that were available to us ahead of publication. If you are the publisher or author and feel that they do not properly reflect the range of media opinion now available, send us a message with the mainstream reviews that you would like to see added.
Any "Author Information" displayed below reflects the author's biography at the time this particular book was published.
Victoria Hislop is the internationally bestselling author of The Island and The Return. She writes travel features for the Sunday Telegraph, the Mail on Sunday, House & Garden, and Woman & Home. She divides her time among rural Kent, London, and Crete. She is married and has two children. Visit her website at www.victoriahislop.com.
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