I never knew how painful and difficult the history of modem Greece had been until I read "The Thread" (Headline Review) by Victoria Hislop, my favourite of her three novels so far. With a large cast of memorable characters, it tells the story of Thessaloniki from the great fire of 1917 to the present day and manages to be at once a romance, a thriller (the Second World War sequences are brilliant) and a sombre reflection on how Greece got to where it is today.
Anthony Horowitz, Telegraph Books of the Year

Hislop's fast-paced narrative and utterly convincing sense of place make her novel a rare treat.
Guardian

"…a sweeping, magnificently detailed and ambitious saga that wrestles with the turbulence of the period … those who loved The Island, her hugely successful first novel, will fall on it"
The Sunday Times

"Hislop has done well to tell a story as diverse and tempestuous as Thessaloniki’s with such lightness of touch.[…] The novel’s overarching power derives from the fluidity with which these rapidly changing times are treated."
The Spectator

"The Thread' is a more ambitious novel than her previous books, more expansive in its sweep of history, more controversial in its political stance. Her many, many fans will be delighted with what is her best novel yet."
The Scotsman

"Hislop … is very good at interweaving the lives of individuals into the backcloth of great events… this is a writer of laudably high ambition and it would only take a small nudge to move her to a whole new level. Recommended"
Daily Mail