Wirral Life Issue 72 | Page 13

REVIEW OF VICTORIA HISLOP ' THE FIGURINE ' BY SUE PORTER

In her irresistible new novel , Sunday Times No 1 best selling author , Victoria Hislop shines a light on the questionable acquisition of cultural treasures and the price people - and countries - will pay to cling on to them . Of all the ancient art that captures the imagination , none is more appealing than the Cycladic figurine . An air of mystery swirls around these statuettes from the Bronze Age and they are highly sought after by collectors - and looters - alike . When Helena inherits her grandparents ' apartment in Athens , she is overwhelmed with memories of the summers she spent there as a child , when Greece was under a brutal military dictatorship . Her remote , cruel grandfather was one of the regime ' s generals and as she sifts through the dusty rooms , Helena discovers an array of

valuable objects and antiquities . How did her grandfather amass such a trove ? What human price was paid for them ? Helena ' s desire to find answers about her heritage dovetails with a growing curiosity for archaeology , ignited by a summer spent with volunteers on a dig on an Aegean island .

There finds fuel her determination to protect the precious fragments recovered from the baked earth - and to understand the origins of her grandfather ' s collection . Helena ' s attempt to make amends for some of her grandfather ' s actions sees her wrestle with the meaning of ' home ', both in relation to looted objects of antiquity ... and herself .