Galaxy British Book Awards winner

On the brink of a life-changing decision, Alexis Fielding longs to find out about her mother's past. But Sofia has never spoken of it. All she admits to is growing up in a small Cretan village before moving to London. When Alexis decides to visit Crete, however, Sofia gives her daughter a letter to take to an old friend, and promises that through her she will learn more.

Arriving in Plaka, Alexis is astonished to see that it lies a stone's throw from the tiny, deserted island of Spinalonga – Greece's former leper colony. Then she finds Fotini, and at last hears the story that Sofia has buried all her life: the tale of her great-grandmother Eleni and her daughters, and a family rent by tragedy, war and passion. She discovers how intimately she is connected with the island, and how secrecy holds them all in its powerful grip...

Headline Review 2006

This island reminds me of a similar island in Finland, which I hope to visit some day.

Mysterious Island of Seili

"In the middle of the Finnish Archipelago you find the mysterious Island of Seili with a terrifying history lasting over 400 years. In 1619 the Swedish King Gustaf II Adolf issued an order to build leper hospital on the Island of Seili. Seili was chosen because of its remote location. As the leprosy began to disappear from Finland in the 1700s a mental asylum was built on the main island where mentally ill persons were treated until 1962.

After the closing in 1962, the buildings were taken over by the University of Turku. The Archipelago Research Institute began operating in 1964 focusing on studies of the ecosystems of the Archipelago Sea and the entire Baltic Sea area. The former Seili hospital area is one of the nation’s most important built cultural environments. The Island opened for tourists in 2017 and have nowadays good connections from the mainland during the summer season."

This book is AVL as I have another copy of it in Finnish on my TBR shelves.
https://www.bookcrossing.com/journal/15398785/

Hislopin kirja on tarjolla huomisessa BC-miitissä!

Picked up from the BC meetup in Tammela. Thank you for the book.