Fifteen years after the novel “The Island” was published, Victoria Hislop returns to its heroes and resurrects a time that has become a distant past for us. In the late 1950s, a cure for leprosy was developed and a leper colony was closed on the Greek island of Spinalonga off the coast of Crete. Victory over a terrible disease meant the end of separation, which until recently seemed eternal; the healed people were finally able to hug their loved ones. This happened on August 25, 1957. But in the midst of the holiday, suddenly shots were fired... New grief fell on the Cretans and changed the fate of many people. Freedom was taken away from someone, and freedom was given to someone along with the right to make a difficult choice: to hate or forgive. For the first time in Russian!