Publication Date: October 24, 2025
Every week Calliope writes a letter to her twin sister who died sixty years ago. One day, she receives a letter back…
Present day, London. Now an elderly lady and living alone in her basement flat, Calliope desperately misses the sun-soaked olive groves of her Greek island home. It has been over sixty years since she ran away. When the letter postmarked from Crete lands on her doorstep, she is shocked to the core by what it says. Her twin sister is alive: We need to talk about what happened.
Now Calliope must make a confession to her beloved granddaughter Ella. Calliope needs to lay her lifetime of secrets to rest, and she needs Ella’s help…
1944, Crete. Calliope clutches the baby to her chest as they run down the cliff path to the blue water of the harbour. She is all the little one has left now, and they must escape. The boat the Allies sent won’t wait forever. If only she’d reached the village sooner, her twin sister would still be alive. She will never forgive herself, but she must stay strong for the baby.
Calliope must make one final journey home. And what her and her granddaughter discover in Crete will change the course of their lives forever…
A heartbreaking and uplifting novel of a family torn apart by a devastating secret that will sweep you away across the glittering sea to Greece. Fans of Victoria Hislop, The Letter and Fiona Valpy won’t be able to put this beautiful book down.
More than six decades after leaving her beloved island home of Crete, Callie embarks on a journey destined to unravel all of her secrets.
Author Rose Alexander delivers a poignant World War II story in The Letter from the Island. She uses a dual timeline, highlighting events in Crete beginning in 1941 and contrasting them with events in London in 2005.
With German paratroopers on Crete, Callie’s community finds itself under attack. Callie’s determination to help with the Resistance effort comes after a family tragedy. She and her family, including her twin, Calista, suffer greatly from a lack of food and supplies.
Callie never talks about the past or the circumstances surrounding her eventual escape from the island, but every week, she writes a letter to her deceased twin. It’s not until she receives a letter herself in a familiar handwriting that she begins to question the past.
The author captures Callie’s despair through interactions with her beloved granddaughter. The chance to reunite with her beloved sister delivers a deep emotional punch.
The Letter from the Island serves up a heartbreaking story of tough wartime decisions and a deep familial bond.
Rose Alexander has had more careers than she cares to mention and is currently a secondary school English teacher. She writes in the holidays, weekends and evenings, whenever she has a chance, although with three children, a husband, a lodger and a cat, this isn’t always as often as she’d like. She’s a keen sewist and is on a mission to make all her own clothes.
