Caught up in this conflict are two families from either side, and central to the story is an unlikely love affair, an affair that has repercussions for these two families for many years. ala Walking Dead και ήταν πραγματικά ανατριχιαστικό (οι 100 σελίδες που έλεγα πριν... μετά περιορίστηκε πάλι στη ρουτίνα και χάθηκε) It is here, in Famagusta, that Victoria sets her book, during the build-up to the terrible events, and then the aftermath. She describes the opulence of the hotel that is central to the book, The Sunrise, with its gleaming marble floors and caryatids and luxury suites, built and run by Aphroditi and Savvas Papacosta, the proprietors with an eye for detail and money making ventures in their heyday. Two families, the Özkans and the Geogious have family members employed at the hotel, representing, like a vignette, the bigger divide between nationalities – the women are friends but the menfolk are wary. Life however, is generally good for most people, but the tide is about to turn… I enjoyed this story and the setting and the characters, however, for me, there was something missing. Despite the fact that the author does not hide the violence, this novel still felt a little too glossy, with just a few too many coincidences to convince me of the authenticity of the plot. Adroitly plotted and deftly characterised, Hislop’s gripping novel tells the stories of ordinary Greek and Turkish families trying to preserve their humanity in a maelstrom of deception, betrayal and ethnic hatred ( Mail on Sunday)

The title alludes to an upscale hotel the Papacostas family is building, for the summer of 1972 is a prosperous time in Famagusta, a tourist mecca on the island. Savvas and Aphroditi Papacostas are a power couple. They already own a small hotel, the Paradise Beach, but realize how lucrative a high-rise hotel and nightclub could be, so they engage in a building project to bring upscale amenities to their new property. At first all goes well, as elegant Aphroditi and her driven husband do everything they can to ensure the success of their enterprise. The nightclub is to be run by Markos Georgiou, in whom Savvas has great confidence and for whom Aphroditi has great antipathy—at least initially. When Savvas embarks on another project, however—the renovation of the Paradise Beach—Aphroditi begins to feel lonely and finds comfort in the arms of Markos. And then, in 1974, the political situation radically changes, as Turkish troops invade Cyprus. The recently installed democratic government in Greece has its own preoccupations and has neither the time nor the energy to devote to Greek Cypriots. Savvas and Aphroditi must flee Famagusta and go to the British base of Dhekelia before settling into an apartment in Nicosia owned by Aphroditi’s parents. Meanwhile, Markos and his family take refuge with some Turkish Cypriots in the now-abandoned Sunrise Hotel, and together they face an occupied and increasingly dangerous city. They are the golden couple of Famagusta, and the Sunrise will be their crowning achievement. Things are going wonderfully and Savvas has his eyes on remodeling their other hotel, making it even greater than the Sunrise. He comes to rely heavily on Markos, trusting him to run the Sunrise nightclub, which Markos makes into the place to be seen. Hislop προσπαθεί μέσα από το βιβλίο της αυτό να κρατήσει μια ουδέτερη στάση όσον αφορά το καυτό θέμα της Κύπρου και της εισβολής των Τούρκων σε αυτή. Και ναι, δέχομαι πως πρόκειται για μυθιστόρημα και όχι για ιστορικό δοκίμιο, αλλά κάποια θέματα είναι πολύ νωπά και πολύ ευαίσθητα για να τα αγγίζουμε με τρόπους που δεν ανταποκρίνονται απόλυτα στην αλήθεια. Καταλαβαίνω την ανθρώπινη ανάγκη της να μοιράσει τις ευθύνες, όμως αυτό δεν είναι πάντα δυνατόν και το σημαντικότερο όλων, δεν είναι πάντα σωστό. Παράλληλα, η συγγραφέας, χρησιμοποιεί πάρα πολύ έντονα το στοιχείο των συμπτώσεων, σε βαθμό που αυτές χάνουν την ρεαλιστικότητά τους και το κείμενο συνολικά, την αξιοπιστία του. Ακόμα και η βία είναι συγκαλυμμένη ενώ θα μπορούσε να την διαχειριστεί με τρόπο πιο ωμό, εφόσον στο σκέλος του διαχειρισμού της έννοιας της αγάπης δεν τα καταφέρνει και τόσο καλά.Hislop captures well the dreamy and Edenic time before the occupation as well as the fear and chaos afterward.

The second part of the book feels like a dystopian a post-apocalyptic story. Famagusta now a deserted city, a ghost city with rodents pillaging houses and shops and danger of being killed by patrolling Turkish soldiers. Two families one Greek one Turkish are living for almost a year in the ruins of this city, surviving from the food stored in the hotel basements. The story takes place in Famagusta/Ammochostos and as the Greek name implies, a city buried in sand. This cookie is stored by WPML WordPress plugin. The purpose of the cookie is to store the redirected language. In the summer of 1972, Famagusta in Cyprus is the most desirable resort in the Mediterranean, a city bathed in the glow of good fortune. An ambitious couple are about to open the island’s most spectacular hotel, where Greek and Turkish Cypriots work in harmony. Two neighbouring families, the Georgious and the Özkans, are among many who moved to Famagusta to escape the years of unrest and ethnic violence elsewhere on the island. But beneath the city’s façade of glamour and success, tension is building. The Sunrise’ tells the story of three families in Famagusta from the sunny days of 1972 when tourism brings riches to Cyprus, to 1974 when a Greek coup forces the island into chaos. Greek Cypriots flee in one direction, Turkish Cypriots flee in the other, and the Turkish army invades to protect the Turkish Cypriot minority. The city of Famagusta empties as people run for their lives. Today, 40 years later, the city is still empty. This is the setting for Hislop’s novel.The island of Cyprus provides the setting for this novel of politics and romance as the action moves from the pastoral to the volatile.