The Figurine

2023 | Contemporary | Fiction & Poetry

When Helena inherits her grandparents' apartment in Athens, she is overwhelmed with memories of the summers she spent there as a child in the 1960s. Her remote, cruel grandfather was a general in the brutal military dictatorship 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 dovetails with a growing fascination for archaeology, ignited by a summer spent with volunteers on a dig on an Aegean island. Their finds fuel her determination to protect the precious fragments recovered from the baked earth - and to understand the origins of her grandfather's collection.

Along the way, she falls in love with the narrow streets of Athens and the city's big-hearted residents, who show her the murky underbelly of the antiques world - and help her understand the meaning of home. But can she finally make amends for her grandfather's actions? And what price should be paid for the return of such ancient and beautiful artefacts?

Victoria Hislop (Author)