Quick ‘cute’ (some happy, some sad, some more thought provoking than others) short reads with a glimpse into different lives, trials and tribulations in Greece.

Interesting set of stories. Read them if you are in love with Greece like me.

For a detailed review please click on the link below or copy and paste it into your browser.

http://onerightword.blogspot.co.uk/2015/11/the-last-dance-and-other-stories.html

an okay collection. I could totally get the Greek vibes yes, however when it comes to the stories they are not really worth it. Too simple and the endings were rather anticlimactic.

This was my first experience reading anything by Victoria Hislop and I enjoyed her collection of short stories. Each showed a different side of Greek culture, and the messages were informative of life living there. The tone was quite melancholy on occasions, but I flew through this quick read. I would be interested to read more from the author.

After reading Hislop's The Island I wanted to read something else by her. This caught my eye on several trips into bookshop and I eventually tried it.

In this collection are ten short stories, none of them link together but they all take place on Greek Islands or the Greek part of Cyprus. The stories are also similar in theme with love, family, growth and heartbreak.

Each short story is wonderfully written and I admire the way Hislop crafted each one. Within just a few pages you're given a fairly detailed snapshot of that point in the characters life. The characters themselves are also likeable and convincingly human.

There wasn't a single story or character that I didn't like or enjoy. I did like so,r stories more than others, such as: The Kafenion, Aflame in Athens, The Lesson and The Last Dance. For me these stories held the most interesting plot and their endings will stay with me for longer than the others. The other stories didn't really stand out to me. Although I enjoyed them whilst reading them, I dot really remember them after moving onto another short story.

While I liked these short stories I did enjoy Hislop's longer, single, novel The Island a lot more. I love the details in Hislop's writing and prefer them when they can be explored in a longer novel. The connection is a nice short holiday read (easy to digest too) especially if you're holiday setting is one she writes about (as mine was). However in future I think I'll stick to her longer novels.