PINTEREST
BLOGLOVIN
GOODREADS
Greece, 1946. In the power vacuum remaining after the Second World War, a brutal civil war erupts between rival left- and right-wing factions. The conflict spirals as the country pays a bitter price in human lives and fighting soon erupts in the mountains, turning villages into battlefields and pulling ordinary women and children into the fray.
When the government soldiers come to Kalopetra, Fotini is nursing her newborn second child. She urges her daughter, Iliana, to hide with the older children as she and the other women are herded into trucks. Weeks later, soldiers return for the children . . . but they are not to be reunited with their mothers, a wholly different fate awaits them.
Fotini finds herself transported to a prison on the island of Chios, where she befriends Markella, whose little son, Nikos, is wise beyond his years. After months of imprisonment, when Fotini and Markella find themselves separated from one another – and from Nikos – Fotini vows to hunt not only for her own child but for Markella’s too.
The Wine-Dark Sea tells of families flung apart across continents and of a strong, determined mother who resolves not to let war destroy hers.
Publisher: Headline Review
Format: Ebook, Audiobook, Hardback (24 September 2026) | Paperback (1 July 2027)
Source: Review copy via Netgalley
MY THOUGHTS
The Greek mountain village of Kalopetra is home to Fotini, her young daughter Iliana and newborn son Mitsos. Following the end of WW2 and the German occupation of Greece, civil war has broken out between the Government’s Hellenic Army and the communist Democratic Army. With the men away fighting for either side – there is much division with families split into supporting one or the other, the women and children are left – until the Government come for the women; the children, including Iliana, are left to fend for themselves. Until the communist soldiers then come for the children.
Fotini is one of those imprisoned by the Government, accused of being a communist, despite the fact that her husband is away fighting for the Hellenic Army. What follows is a heartbreaking and moving story, inspired by true historical events, detailing the cruelty and barbaric treatment these women endure. They lose their freedom, their children and with executions commonplace, many do not survive the camp.
Fotini was a character that you couldn’t help but take to your heart. Her simple village life was a thing of the past and she had to dig deep to survive and keep both her and her son safe. The women were under pressure to sign a dilosi, a public statement renouncing their belief in communism and whilst this may have seen many being released earlier, for those that were not communists the public shame associated with such an act would ensure they would be stigmatised were they to return home. In addition, the brutal treatment made them determined not to give in to their captors.
This is not a quick read (my Kindle initially showed over 13 hours) and it is quite intense. Just when you think that something good (or less bad) will happen, a curveball is thrown and so many times my heart broke for mothers like Fotini and her friend Markella and also for their children who had to constantly adapt to a life on their own, they were effectively ‘stolen’ and disbursed amongst other countries.
Spanning the decades from 1946 to the late 1980s and set across various countries this epic story from Victoria Hislop is one that I was fully drawn into from the beginning. I’ve read many of Hislop’s books set in Greece and they are always superbly researched with intricate details that bring the characters and the story to life. This story is told from several perspectives, across the years, with our main characters showing a remarkable resilience and determination to cope with ever changing circumstances. There is cruelty but also immense kindness from people and it is those little acts of kindness that sustains when things seem hopeless.
This is a fantastic read, it’s both powerful and emotive but if I have one small issue, it’s that after spending so many hours invested in the lives of these characters I did feel a little cheated by the ending which in my opinion seemed to be rather rushed. Nonetheless, I would have no hesitation in recommending.
My thanks to Anne of Random Things Tours for the invite and the publisher for the Netgalley copy.
Victoria Hislop is the multi-million copy bestselling author of ten books, including The Island, The Return, The Thread, The Sunrise, Those Who are Loved, The Last Dance and Other Stories, Cartes Postales from Greece and One August Night. Victoria’s most recent novel, The Figurine, topped the UK TCM as the biggest selling single edition in the country for two consecutive weeks in 2024.
Her books have been translated into forty languages and Victoria was executive producer on the adaptations of three of her novels for Greek television.
Victoria divides her time between England and Greece and in 2020 was granted honorary citizenship by the President of Greece. She is Vice President of the British School at Athens, is on the British Committee for the Reunification of the Parthenon Marbles and also on the Advisory Board for the Parthenon Project.
She is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature and holds Honorary Doctorates from the Universities of Patra and Sheffield. In 2025, she was awarded the Byron Medal for Philhellenism at the Athens Academy and became the first woman to become an honorary member of the Society of Greek Writers.
Author Links: Website | X | Facebook | Insta | AmazonUK
