With both the Isles of Scilly and Bali open for travel, we’re celebrating islands this week – from the RL Stephenson classic Treasure Island to So Many Islands – an anthology of stories by island authors, to The Age of Islands, which examines how islands disappear and new ones emerge in the modern age.
1. The Age of Islands: In Search of New and Disappearing Islands by Alastair Bonnett
New islands are being built at an unprecedented rate while many islands are disappearing or fragmenting because of rising sea levels. It is a strange planetary spectacle, creating an ever-changing map which even Google Earth struggles to keep pace with. From the disappearing islands that remain the home of native Central Americans to Hong Kong, and the Isles of Scilly: all have urgent stories to tell.
2. Treasure Island by Robert Louis Stevenson
Following the demise of bloodthirsty buccaneer Captain Flint, young Jim Hawkins finds himself with the key to a fortune. For he has discovered a map that will lead him to the fabled Treasure Island. But a host of villains, wild beasts and deadly savages stand between him and the stash of gold. Not to mention the most infamous pirate ever to sail the high seas…
3. So Many Islands by Nicholas Laughlin
So Many Islands breaks out bold new writing from the distant shores of countries in the Caribbean, Mediterranean, Indian and Pacific Oceans. Alongside family politics, So Many Islands tackles nuclear testing and climate change global issues that are close to the heart of these precariously poised communities. Giving voice to their challenges and triumphs, these writers create a vibrant portrait of what it is like to live and love on the small islands they call home. Readers everywhere will find universal connections with
these words and worlds.
4. The Islands by Emily Brugman
In the mid-1950s, a small group of Finnish migrants set up camp on Little Rat, a tiny island in an archipelago off the coast of Western Australia. Drawn here by tragedy, Onni Saari is soon hooked by the stark beauty of the landscape and the slivers of jutting coral onto which the crayfishers build their precarious huts. Could these reefs, teeming with the elusive and lucrative cray, hold the key to a good life?
5. And Then There Were None by Agatha Christie
1939. Europe teeters on the brink of war. Ten strangers are invited to Soldier Island, an isolated rock near the Devon coast. Cut off from the mainland, with their generous hosts Mr and Mrs U.N. Owen mysteriously absent, they are each accused of a terrible crime. When one of the party dies suddenly they realise they may be harbouring a murderer among their number.
