The Last Dance and Other Stories - Tapa dura

'Victoria Hislop is a master at evoking a sense of place, and this collection of short stories inspired by Greece is no exception... At turns romantic and melancholic, these stories offer memorable portraits of ordinary Greek life' (Mail on Sunday)

'Stunning... Intricate, beautifully observed and with a painter's eye for imagery, in these stories Hislop evokes Greece, its people, its customs and traditions with a sensitivity that reveals her deep knowledge of not just the place but also the human condition' (Express)

'Lyrical, twisty short stories' (Evening Standard)

'Will provide a much-needed glimpse of Greek sun' (Telegraph)

'In this beguiling collection of ten short stories, Hislop resists the crude commercial temptation to home in on that crisis in too obvious detail. She focuses instead on stories of everyday crises: a celibate priest who has fallen in love, the misery caused to adult children by over-protective Greek parents and the growing power of sleazy loan sharks, all played out against the backdrop of this ancient but crumbling culture. In many ways these stories are even better than her novels: a type of accidental education for the non-political reader. Her characters are utterly convincing and she has perfected her knack for describing everyday Greek life. As we sit watching the television pictures of protesting crowds, those crowds won't seem so faceless any more' ()

These short stories, which are about Greece, are written in a style that reminds me of Louis de Bernières or Andrew Nicoll - laden with a sort of beguiling innocence (Evening Standard)