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Quick answer: If you loved Victoria Hislop, try The Island, The Return, The Sunrise, The Thread, Captain Corelli's Mandolin and The Nightingale. Each one is an absorbing historical novel with family secrets, Mediterranean settings and stories that span generations.
Victoria Hislop is a British novelist best known for The Island, set around the Greek leper colony of Spinalonga, and for novels about the Spanish Civil War, Cyprus and Thessaloniki. Her books usually follow a modern woman who uncovers her family's hidden past. Readers love her research, her sun-drenched settings and her emotional sagas. These books share her history, her families and her travel.
Table of Contents
Quick Picks at a Glance
| Book | Author | Setting | Best For |
|---|---|---|---|
| The Island | Victoria Hislop | Crete | readers new to Hislop |
| The Return | Victoria Hislop | Spain | readers who want the Spanish Civil War |
| The Sunrise | Victoria Hislop | Cyprus | readers who want 1970s Cyprus |
| The Thread | Victoria Hislop | Thessaloniki | readers who want a Greek city through the century |
| Captain Corelli's Mandolin | Louis de Bernières | Greece | readers who love Greek islands |
| The Nightingale | Kristin Hannah | France | readers who want wartime sisters |
| The Forgotten Garden | Kate Morton | England and Australia | readers who love family secrets |
| The Shadow of the Wind | Carlos Ruiz Zafón | Barcelona | readers who love Spain |
| The Seven Sisters | Lucinda Riley | Worldwide | readers who want a long family series |
| The Light Between Oceans | M.L. Stedman | Australia | readers who like moral dilemmas |
| The Kitchen House | Kathleen Grissom | Virginia | readers who like hidden family history |
| The Tuscan Child | Rhys Bowen | Italy | readers who like dual timelines |
| The Olive Tree | Lucinda Riley | Cyprus | readers who like family summers |
| The Sea of Lost Love | Santa Montefiore | Italy | readers who like romance and memory |
| The Book Thief | Markus Zusak | Germany | readers who want wartime classics |
1. The Island by Victoria Hislop
A woman uncovers her family's link to the Spinalonga leper colony.
Best for: readers new to Hislop.
2. The Return by Victoria Hislop
A woman in Granada learns of a family torn apart by war.
Best for: readers who want the Spanish Civil War.
3. The Sunrise by Victoria Hislop
Families in Famagusta live through the 1974 invasion.
Best for: readers who want 1970s Cyprus.
4. The Thread by Victoria Hislop
A couple's story spans a century in Thessaloniki.
Best for: readers who want a Greek city through the century.
5. Captain Corelli's Mandolin by Louis de Bernières
An Italian officer falls for a Greek doctor's daughter.
Best for: readers who love Greek islands.
6. The Nightingale by Kristin Hannah
Two sisters resist the Nazis in France.
Best for: readers who want wartime sisters.
7. The Forgotten Garden by Kate Morton
A woman traces why her grandmother was abandoned.
Best for: readers who love family secrets.
8. The Shadow of the Wind by Carlos Ruiz Zafón
A boy uncovers the secret of a forgotten author.
Best for: readers who love Spain.
9. The Seven Sisters by Lucinda Riley
Adopted sisters trace their origins.
Best for: readers who want a long family series.
10. The Light Between Oceans by M.L. Stedman
A couple keeps a baby who washes ashore.
Best for: readers who like moral dilemmas.
11. The Kitchen House by Kathleen Grissom
An orphan grows up among enslaved workers.
Best for: readers who like hidden family history.
12. The Tuscan Child by Rhys Bowen
A woman follows her father's wartime secret to Tuscany.
Best for: readers who like dual timelines.
13. The Olive Tree by Lucinda Riley
A family reunion in Cyprus reveals secrets.
Best for: readers who like family summers.
14. The Sea of Lost Love by Santa Montefiore
A woman investigates a love story from wartime Italy.
Best for: readers who like romance and memory.
15. The Book Thief by Markus Zusak
A girl steals books in Nazi Germany.
Best for: readers who want wartime classics.
How We Chose These Books
Every pick is a real, widely available book that shares something specific with Victoria Hislop: its tone, its themes, its pace or the kind of characters it puts at the center. We mixed well-known favorites with a few less obvious titles, and we noted who each book suits best so you can match it to the reader. Where a book belongs to a series, we list the first volume so you can start at the beginning.
If you are not sure where to begin, start with the first three picks in the table: they are the closest match to Victoria Hislop. The rest of the list moves further out, so it works well once you know which part of the original you liked most. If a pick is part of a longer series, read the first book before you commit, and check the age or content notes in the table before passing a book to a younger reader.
How to Choose
Begin with The Island, Hislop's best-known novel. If you like Greek settings, Captain Corelli's Mandolin is the classic choice. For dual-timeline family secrets, The Forgotten Garden, The Tuscan Child and The Seven Sisters are excellent. If war history is what draws you, try The Nightingale or The Book Thief.
Frequently Asked Questions
Who is Victoria Hislop?
A British novelist known for historical sagas set mostly in Greece and the Mediterranean.
Which Victoria Hislop book should I read first?
The Island, her bestselling debut.
Is The Island based on a real place?
Yes. Spinalonga was a real leper colony off the coast of Crete until 1957.
Does Victoria Hislop write series?
Most of her novels are standalones, though The Island has a sequel, One August Night.
Are her books romances?
They include love stories, but they are mainly historical family sagas.