Victoria Hislop talks to Libby Asher about her bestselling first novel – and what comes next
.jpg) ictoria Hislop arrives five minutes early for our ‘quick cuppa’, between the announcement of the British Book Awards shortlist and an appearance at the Essex book festival. She is smiling, and with good reason: her first novel, The Island, already the winner of the Richard & Judy Summer Read 2006, has just been shortlisted for two ‘nibbies’, Waterstone’s Newcomer of the Year and Borders Book of the Year. The novel tells the story of several generations touched by leprosy: the island of the title is Spinalonga, Greece’s main leper colony from 1903-1957.
‘I’ve brought my photo album’ – she rummages in her capacious bag, and finds the album beneath a stack of LEPRA leaflets. ‘It’s nice - having got interested in leprosy through the story, I’ve now become very involved in the charity. We think it’s a thing of the past, but there are half a million new cases every year, mainly in developing countries – and there is a cure.’
Spinalonga looks almost like an ancient Greek ruin - except that some of the deserted, dilapidated buildings are obviously much more recent. ‘People don’t always realize it’s a real island’, she says. ‘We came across it on a family holiday to Crete in 2001, on an idle afternoon – it had such a strong atmosphere. It wasn’t miserable at all – if anything it felt very positive, and I wanted to find out more about it.’ Victoria’s historical and medical research was painstaking. She speaks enthusiastically about the help she received from Dr Diana Lockwood, of the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine. ‘She lent me textbooks from the 30s and from the 50s, so I could get a real feel for how the disease was approached at the time’, she explains, ‘and she checked the whole book at proof stage. I felt it was very important to get those details right’.
Did she speak to local people who had been on the island themselves, or had family there? ‘No. Not beforehand. I felt it would compromise the story, somehow – that I might be too much influenced by real people’s stories – and that would be intrusive for the families, disrespectful. It was the place that inspired me, but I wanted to write fiction – I’m not a historian.’
.JPG) Victoria went back to Crete many times in the course of writing the novel – and returned again very recently, for the launch of the Greek translation of the book. ‘I was quite nervous – I was worried that people would be angry, if I’d got things wrong. But…’ she dives into the bag again, and produces a sheaf of letters, written in Greek, but with translations alongside. They are from Spinalonga survivors and their families, and are brimming with thanks and praise. ‘This really fulfils my highest hope for the book’, she beams. ‘They’re saying I got it right – and they are glad that I painted a picture of the community as made up of real people, individuals, with dignity – the positive side.’ There is a photo of Victoria with a smiling elderly man, the author of one of the letters. ‘His name is Manolis. He contracted leprosy in the 1940s. It didn’t progress for 20 years – it often doesn’t – then something triggered it, and it went on the rampage. He went into the hospital in Athens where they transferred the Spinalonga patients when the colony closed down in 1957, and they did cure him, but he stayed on as a nurse.’ Victoria speaks warmly about Manolis’ zest for life. ‘He’s disfigured, but not crippled. He’s 84, and he looks after his grandchildren, and walks without a stick’.
And what next? Having become so involved in the area of Spinalonga, and with leprosy charity work, will there be another book on the same subject? ‘No, the next one’s quite different – it’s set in the Spanish Civil War. Though I’m beginning to see that there are some of the same sort of themes emerging – the problems of stigmas, families hiding things away. It’s astonishing how Spain just drew a line under the whole thing after Franco died in 1975 – there were so many war crimes, there are still thousands of unmarked graves in Spain, and the grandchildren of those people are now starting to ask questions.’ Does it help, coming from a journalistic background, I wonder? ‘Well, I was never an investigative journalist, a newshound – but I suppose I do have a lot of curiosity.’
Has it been difficult, tackling the second novel when the first has been such a runaway success? ‘Well, I just refuse to worry about that whole trauma’, she replies, firmly. It must be hard to make the time, along with all her speaking commitments, as well as taking care of her own family. Her husband, Ian, is the well-known journalist and broadcaster, and they have two teenaged children. ‘Oh, it’s not so bad. Where we live, in the country, there aren’t any distractions - once the kids are at school, I can go a whole day without seeing another human being.’ She makes it sound very simple.
Does she enjoy the speaking, and meeting readers? ‘Very much. I prefer it if there is more question and answer with the readers, rather than standing up and speaking like a vicar. I have one coming up soon when I’m going to be in conversation with Margaret Drabble. Margaret Drabble is interviewing me!’ She giggles, as if she can’t quite believe it.
Victoria is looking forward to appearing at the first Wimbledon Bookfest in October, in the Book Etc book club event. ‘I believe Kingston has a really good Readers’ Festival, too’ she remarks – ‘that would be another interesting event to visit’. The SW11 literary festival has arrived on the scene since the Hislops left the area for Kent in 2000. ‘We lived in Clapham and Wandsworth for years – it’s a great area, there’s so much going on, terrific restaurants, and of course the commons. I think we’ll probably come back in the end, but a few years ago we felt we wanted a bit more open space – we told everyone we were leaving so we could play more tennis.’
I hope Victoria gets a chance to enjoy her tennis this year: I suspect her game is accurate, imaginative - and a lot of fun.
.jpg) The Island by Victoria Hislop is published by Headline Review, £6.99 paperback
The British Book Awards will be broadcast on Channel 4 on 31st March www.britishbookawards.co.uk
To find out more about the work of LEPRA, call 08451 212121, or visit www.lepra.org.uk
www.wimbledonbookfest.org
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