Victoria Hislop (née Hamson; born 1959) is an English author.

Early life

Born in

Bromley Bromley is a large town in Greater London, England, within the London Borough of Bromley. It is south-east of Charing Cross, and had an estimated population of 87,889 as of 2011. Originally part of Kent, Bromley became a market town, c ...

Kent Kent is a county in South East England and one of the home counties. It borders Greater London to the north-west, Surrey to the west and East Sussex to the south-west, and Essex to the north across the estuary of the River Thames; it faces ...

, she was raised in

Tonbridge Tonbridge ( ) is a market town in Kent, England, on the River Medway, north of Royal Tunbridge Wells, south west of Maidstone and south east of London. In the administrative borough of Tonbridge and Malling, it had an estimated population ...

and attended

Tonbridge Grammar School Tonbridge Grammar School is a state grammar school in Tonbridge, Kent, United Kingdom. The school was established in 1905 at the Technical Institute in Avebury Avenue Tonbridge, having only 19 enrolled students. Today, the school is situated in ...

. She studied English at

St Hilda's College, Oxford St Hilda's College is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in England. The college is named after the Anglo-Saxon Saint, Hilda of Whitby and was founded in 1893 as a hall for women; it remained a women's college until 20 ...

, and worked in publishing and as a journalist before becoming an author.

Career

Her novel '' The Island'' (2005) was a number-one bestseller in Britain, its success in part the result of having been selected by the '' Richard & Judy Book Club'' for their 2006 Summer Reads. ''

To Nisi ''To Nisi'' ( Greek: ''Το Νησί''; English: ''The Island'') is a Greek television series based on the best-selling English novel '' The Island'' by Victoria Hislop airing on Mega Channel. The series premiered on 11 October 2010 to record rat ...

'' (The Island) was filmed as a TV series by the Greek TV channel

MEGA Mega or MEGA may refer to: Science * mega-, a metric prefix denoting 106 * Mega (number), a certain very large integer in Steinhaus–Moser notation * "mega-" a prefix meaning "large" that is used in taxonomy * Gravity assist, for ''Moon-Eart ...

. In 2009, she donated the short story ''Aflame in Athens'' to Oxfam's "

Ox-Tales Ox-Tales refers to four anthologies of short stories written by 38 of the UK's best-known authors. All donated their stories to Oxfam. The books and stories are loosely based on the four elements: Earth, Fire, Air and Water. The Ox-Tales books w ...

" project, four collections of British stories written by 38 authors. Her story was published in the "Fire" collection. Hislop has a particular affection for Greece. She visits the country often for research and other reasons, and has a second home on the island of

Crete Crete ( el, Κρήτη, translit=, Modern: , Ancient: ) is the largest and most populous of the Greek islands, the 88th largest island in the world and the fifth largest island in the Mediterranean Sea, after Sicily, Sardinia, Cyprus, ...

Personal life

Victoria married ''

Private Eye ''Private Eye'' is a British fortnightly satirical and current affairs news magazine, founded in 1961. It is published in London and has been edited by Ian Hislop since 1986. The publication is widely recognised for its prominent critici ...

'' editor

Ian Hislop Ian David Hislop (born 13 July 1960) is a British journalist, satirist, writer, broadcaster, and editor of the magazine ''Private Eye''. He has appeared on numerous radio and television programmes and has been a team captain on the BBC quiz sho ...

on 16 April 1988 in

Oxford Oxford () is a city in England. It is the county town and only city of Oxfordshire. In 2020, its population was estimated at 151,584. It is north-west of London, south-east of Birmingham and north-east of Bristol. The city is home to the ...

; the couple have two children, Emily Helen (born 1990) and

William David William David (born 26 June 1983 in Sakleshpur) is an Indian cinematographer, who is best known for his work in Rangitaranga with director Anup Bhandari. Career William started his career working as a co-DOP for commercials. He has experience ...

(born 1993). Hislop lived in London for over twenty years, but now lives in

Sissinghurst Sissinghurst is a small village in the borough of Tunbridge Wells in Kent, England. Originally called ''Milkhouse Street'' (also referred to as ''Mylkehouse''), Sissinghurst changed its name in the 1850s, possibly to avoid association with the sm ...

. In 2020, Hislop was granted honorary

Greek citizenship Nationality law of Greece is based on the principle of '' jus sanguinis''. Greek citizenship may be acquired by descent or through naturalization. Greek law permits dual citizenship. A Greek national is a citizen of the European Union, and ...

for promoting modern Greek history and culture. The following year she was a contestant on ''

Dancing with the Stars ''Dancing with the Stars'' is the name of various international television series based on the format of the British TV series '' Strictly Come Dancing'', which is distributed by BBC Studios, the commercial arm of the BBC. Currently the form ...

'', the Greek version of ''

Strictly Come Dancing ''Strictly Come Dancing'' (informally known as ''Strictly'') is a British dance contest show in which celebrities partner with professional dancers to compete in mainly ballroom and Latin dance. Each couple is scored by a panel of usually 4 j ...

''.

Bibliography

Novels

*'' The Island'' (2005) *''The Return'' (2008) *''The Thread'' (2011) *''The Sunrise'' (2014) *''Cartes Postales from Greece'' (2016) *''Those Who Are Loved'' (2019) *''One August Night'' (2020) *''Maria's Island'' (2021)

Short stories

*''One Cretan Evening and Other Stories'' (2011) ** 'One Cretan Evening' (2008) ** 'The Pine Tree' (2008) ** 'By The Fire' (2009) ** 'The Warmest Christmas Ever' (2007) ** 'Aflame in Athens' (2009) * ''The Last Dance and Other Stories'' (2012; ten stories)

Non-fiction

*''Sink or Swim: The Self-help Book for Men Who Never Read Them'' (2002) (with Duncan Goodhew) * ''Fix Your Life – Now!: The Six Step Plan to Help You Fix Your Life'' (2012) (with Duncan Goodhew)

References

External links

Official website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Hislop, Victoria 1959 births Living people Alumni of St Hilda's College, Oxford English writers People educated at Tonbridge Grammar School People from Bromley People from Sissinghurst English women novelists English short story writers British women short story writers