“The sun is spread, hot and arched, above the reef like a woman in abandon, sky shimmering like glistening skin…”
Yes, it is paradise: this picture of a resort in the Solomon Islands…a gorgeous escape, the adventure of a lifetime…but getting to paradise is another matter….
“Only two hours ago I’d been living through some of the worst moments I’d ever experienced, during which an understanding of the precariousness of life had been borne in me with frightening force.”
Time For Another Amazing Island Adventure!
Both of the quotes above are from an amazing book that continues the adventures of one of my favorite Authors!
First of all, what a beautiful cover for a book. Welcome to Pigeon Island, surrounded by many other, smaller islands like the one on the cover. I have posted before about the exotic adventures of Lucy Irvine, who began the adventure of a lifetime when she answered this want ad:
She not only answered the ad, her bestselling book “Castaway” documented her year on a deserted island with the man who placed the want ad, and the book was also made into a film! After all of the acclaim, Irvine returned to a “regular” life, until the Author found herself with a unique opportunity for a sequel!
In 1999, Lucy Irvine took her three children to the farthest corner of the Solomon Islands in the South Pacific to live for a year on remote Pigeon Island…look at the center of the map above and notice the tiny mark for Pigeon island next to Reef Islands…
Irvine’s invitation to live in this isolated paradise came from an intrepid 80-year-old Pigeon Island resident, Diana Hepworth, who set sail from England years earlier with her family in their own search for a faraway paradise.
“Faraway” is not only Irvine’s story, it is the story of the Hepworth family and their amazing adventure years earlier…the two stories are intertwined, and both are fascinating…
“Faraway” tells the story of Irvine’s latest adventure – and what it was like to take her three boys with her, settling into a completely different life in the middle of the south seas…
“Faraway” also is the story of the Hepworths – an adventurous young couple who raised a family in a faraway land – and “Faraway” beautifully captures what life on a south seas island is like…because few islands are more isolated than this one…
Lucy Irvine is a beautiful writer, expertly capturing life in this secluded paradise, without forgetting all of the hardships and dangers that south seas life entails…
“Only two hours ago I’d been living through some of the worst moments I’d ever experienced, during which an understanding of the precariousness of life had been borne in me with frightening force.”
Irvine is a perceptive writer as well, capturing the joys and hardships of “roughing it” on an isolated island with her three sons, as well as learning the local culture and customs…and this book offers an insider’s look at life in the south pacific…
If you’ve ever wanted to escape to a tropical island, Irvine shows you what it is really like…
And of course, this terrific memoir follows Irvine’s previous masterwork:
The Brilliant “Castaway!”
I first got hooked on Irvine’s writing when I came across her memoir in a used bookstore.
Irvine answered a want ad, and spent a year on a deserted island! To read all about the book, as well as the british film that was made about it, click on the entire story here:
And here’s another amazing book: the Author manages to get permission to move to the “Mutiny On The Bounty” island – and shares the troubling story of life there…click to see more:
This Writer worked as a teacher on a south seas island – click to find out what “paradise” was like up close!
Of course, island living might not be for everyone – unless it’s only a part-time island!
That’s right: Sicily’s Isola Bella is an island twice a day – at high tide!
Click here for video of this gorgeous getaway!
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Let me know what you think of these amazing, and topical, adventures!
Categories: Art, Books / Media, British Cinema, Exotic Travel, Memoirs, Travel, Travel Adventures, Travel Memoir
Hi John, this sounds like a fascinating book. I would not want to be the heroine of either of these books as I like being part of things. I recall the movie Castaway.
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Yes, they both found much resistance to their being there, and for good reason as it turns out…thanks for commenting!
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💓
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Big Wow!
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I love this kind of book and I’ll look for them! I think the notion of doing this is always much more romantic in thought than in reality )
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Well done to all of them for their determination, but it definitely would not be for me.
Best wishes, Pete.
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When I have strong #wanderlust I imagine visiting, but it takes SO long to get there and I think I’d go stir crazy after a few days as well! Thanks for the comment, the book is really terrific
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