I listened to The Figurine by Victoria Hislop while tackling some long overdue and seriously stressful repairs on our rental cottage, which was once our family home. The place was in a half dilapidated state, but the audiobook made the time pass quickly. In fact, it was almost pleasurable putting things right again. A bit of a stretch, perhaps, but there was something quietly satisfying about restoring a neglected space — not unlike what Helena, the protagonist of The Figurine, spends much of her time doing.

I would find it hard to sum up the genre of The Figurine. It’s part rites of passage, part love story, and also a close look at historical events through a critically reflective lens.

Set mainly in Athens, with flashbacks to island archaeological digs and memories stretching from the late 1960s to the modern day, The Figurine is shaped by Greece’s political past, particularly during the time of the military junta that ruled from 1967 to 1974. Through Helena’s eyes we see both the personal cost of living under a dictatorship and the quiet ways in which resistance and complicity played out in daily life.

It is this unsettling political context that sets the tone for the novel. Helena visits her grandparents’ home in Athens and gradually realises why her mother was so reluctant to return. There’s a quiet, creeping sense of control and authoritarianism, both within the household and in society more widely. Uncle Arsenis lingers in the background, casting a shadow that is difficult to define at first but grows more sinister as the story unfolds.

There is a strange ritual of social hosting, present opening and museum visits that leaves the reader slightly on edge. As the narrative deepens, the atmosphere becomes increasingly tense and the layers of subterfuge and dishonesty begin to surface.

As the novel moves forward, Helena grows up, attends university, and shows herself to be a thoughtful and capable student. She eventually meets Nicholas Hayes Jones, a charismatic and ambitious actor who becomes her boyfriend. Helena is clearly besotted with him. This section of The Figurine reminded me of One Day, particularly the relationship between Emma and Dexter – emotionally charged, unbalanced and at times frustrating.

Helena follows Nicholas on an archaeological dig, and the novel enters its next, more intense phase.

It’s at this point that the figurines themselves take centre stage. These are Cycladic figurines – ancient, abstract marble statuettes from Bronze Age Greece. As the story develops, we learn about their cultural significance, their market value, and how they have become objects of exploitation through looting and illegal sales. For Helena, they become symbolic of personal and historical loss. They are quiet but powerful presences in the novel and deeply tied to her family’s legacy.

That’s where I’ll leave the plot summary. From here, The Figurine becomes something of a mystery and even a crime novel, as secrets are unearthed, thefts come to light, revenge is taken, and relationships evolve.

One extra detail I enjoyed: Helena is a chemistry graduate. That amused me after reading Lessons in Chemistry – though Helena is no Elizabeth Zott. Her steady father and loving mother had hoped for a different future, but life had other plans.

This is only the second book I’ve read by Victoria Hislop – the other being The Island, the novel about the leper colony. I haven’t looked into where her fascination with Greece and Greek islands comes from, but I’d recommend her books to anyone interested in history, family stories and place-based fiction. Helena in The Figurine also reminded me of the heroine in The Island – thoughtful, curious and determined. Definitely a great holiday read.