This is essentially a collection of short stories and anecdotes relating to Greek culture and customs, in different communities around the country. It's set in the context of a travel journal which is sent to a young woman called Ellie, although intended for someone else.

The device works well, although I'd have liked to see more of Ellie in the book rather than a brief top and tail with a brief mention in the middle. But the writing is engaging, word pictures drawn of some of the beauties of Greece, and also some of the horrors that can develop in small communities, unvisited by the outside world. One story, in particular, was very unpleasant and I'm glad I didn't read it last thing at night.

It's not really a novel; it could be dipped into rather than read straight through, and I doubt if I'll read it again.

Longer review here: https://suesbookreviews.blogspot.com/2023/06/cartes-postales-from-greece-by-vict... ( )

I received this little taster from @headlinepg from over on @Netgalley. Its written by @VicHislop who's books I have devoured before and this one really looks as if it is going to be another bestseller. I love the pictures too which get you even more absorbed into the story. Yes, another number one in my eyes. ( )

I received this little taster from @headlinepg from over on @Netgalley. Its written by @VicHislop who's books I have devoured before and this one really looks as if it is going to be another bestseller. I love the pictures too which get you even more absorbed into the story. Yes, another number one in my eyes. ( )

A novel in vignettes perhaps, or in photographs, or in short stories that reveal small pictures of a country not so far away, Victoria Hislop’s Cartes Postales evokes a modern Greece of financial implosion, together with its background of symbol, myth and legend, its people of overwhelming invitation, and its visitors, seeking, losing, and maybe finding life and purpose. It’s curiously different and constantly fascinating, weaving stories of fact or fiction in between the steps of two separate journeys, a man’s and a woman’s as they flee unpromising pasts and unwelcoming futures. Images throughout both illustrate and deepen the stories, inviting the reader to recognize and maybe imagine more. Meanwhile an element of mystery prevails—how will the characters meet; even will they meet? And how will their different tales combine into one?

The short stories are a delight in themselves; the photographs entice from page after page; and the overarching story arc is pleasingly consistent, never feeling false or intrusive, and well-timed as separate endings draw closer together. Highly recommended.

Disclosure: I borrowed it from Mum, but I think I might buy a copy for myself to reread one day. ( )

This took a while to get into but as the set of stories gets going, Hislop draws the reader in and I was gripped. Just lovely to read while on holiday in the Peloponnese. ( )