The Return

Victoria Hislop is the multi-million copy bestselling author of eight books, including The Island, The Return, The Thread, The Sunrise, Those Who are Loved, The Last Dance and Other Stories and Cartes Postales from Greece. Her books have been translated into forty languages. Her most recent novel, One August Night, returned to Crete in the long-anticipated sequel to The Island and spent twelve weeks in the Top 10 hardback fiction charts.

Victoria was executive producer on the adaptations of The Island, Cartes Postales and One August Night for Greek television - and recently took part in Dancing with the Stars, also on Greek television.

Victoria divides her time between England and Greece and, in 2020, was granted honorary citizenship by the President of Greece. She was recently granted an Honorary Doctorate by the University of Sheffield and is patron of Knossos 2025, which has raised funds to rebuild the new research centre at one of Greece's most significant archaeological sites. She is also on the British Committee for the Reunification of the Parthenon Marbles.

From the internationally bestselling author of The Island comes a dazzling new novel of family betrayals, forbidden love, and historical turmoil.

Sonia knows nothing of Granada's shocking past, but ordering a simple cup of coffee in a quiet café will lead her into the extraordinary tale of a family's fight to survive the horror of the Spanish Civil War.
Seventy years earlier, in the Ramírez family's café, Concha and Pablo's children relish an atmosphere of hope. Antonio is a serious young teacher, Ignacio a flamboyant matador, and Emilio a skilled musician. Their sister, Mercedes, is a spirited girl whose sole passion is dancing, until she meets Javier and an obsessive love affair begins. But Spain is a country in turmoil. In the heat of civil war, everyone must take a side and choose whether to submit, to fight, or to attempt escape.