As we inch towards the end of summer, the dreams of a last-minute escape become increasingly persistent during the bright crisp mornings. White sandy beaches, turquoise waters and unspoilt nature lure us to remote islands with a promise of a thrilling adventure. For those of you enjoying a staycation, we have picked twelve books set on fictional islands you can dive into at your own convenience. From South America to Iceland to Pacific Ocean, these stories will whisk you on a round-the-world quest to discover the secrets buried on seemingly peaceful islands.
Contents
- The Island of Doctor Moreau by H. G. Wells
- The Guest List by Lucy Foley
- To The Lighthouse by Virginia Woolf
- The Burial Rites by Hannah Kent
- Mysterious Island by Jules Verne
- Next Year in Havana by Chanel Cleeton
- Utopia by Thomas More
- A Caribbean Mystery by Agatha Christie
- We Were Liars by E. Lockhart
- Nation by Terry Pratchett
- The Tempest by William Shakespeare
- The Priory of The Orange Tree by Samantha Shannon
The Island of Doctor Moreau by H. G. Wells
Genre: Science Fiction
Location: South Pacific Ocean
“Written in 1896, The Island of Dr. Moreau is one of the earliest scientific romances. An instant sensation, it was meant as a commentary on Darwin’s theory of evolution, which H. G. Wells stoutly believed. The story centers on the depraved Dr. Moreau, who conducts unspeakable animal experiments on a remote tropical island, with hideous, humanlike results. Edward Prendick, an English-man whose misfortunes bring him to the island, is witness to the Beast Folk’s strange civilization and their eventual terrifying regression. While gene-splicing and bioengineering are common practices today, readers are still astounded at Wells’s haunting vision and the ethical questions he raised a century before our time.” – Penguin Random
Read it Free Here Buy it on AmazonThe Guest List by Lucy Foley
Genre: Mystery
Location: Off the coast of Ireland
“Lucy Foley follows The Hunting Party with this entertaining atmospheric murder mystery, a modern take on Agatha Christie, set on the wild and isolated Cormorant Island. The golden celebrity couple, Julia Keegan, publisher of a successful online magazine, and the handsome Will Slater, rising star of TV show Survival, are getting married in style in front of their friends and family. However, it immediately becomes clear on a dark, wild and stormy wedding night of power cuts that something has gone desperately wrong, and in a narrative that goes back and forth in time, a distraught waitress speaks of seeing a body outside, which has the ushers setting out into the night to find out what has happened. Soon Foley skilfully reveals the past history of the characters, the grief, the losses, the simmering resentments and jealousies, the guilt, the secrets, the lies, a past that adds up to a bubbling cauldron full of motives to kill, and a present where the chickens of the past have finally come home to roost.”- Paromjit
Buy it on AmazonTo The Lighthouse by Virginia Woolf
Genre: Fiction
Location: Isle of Skye, Scotland
“To The Lighthouse is a portrait of a family’s holiday in the years before and after World War I. Mrs. Ramsay is at the center of this world -a wife, mother to eight children, the hostess to the guests who fill the holiday home in the Hebrides -where an expedition to the lighthouse may or may not happen. Mrs. Ramsay’s spirit permeates every page of To The Lighthouse -no easy feat considering the events that take place. The prose cradles and rocks the reader just like the sea that surrounds the Ramsay family.
Again, Woolf uses her stream of consciousness and multiple perspectives technique to rock and cradle the reader just like the sea that surrounds the Ramsay family. This allows the reader a feeling of living in the pages of the novel, creating a very intimate experience for the reader.
To The Lighthouse is a captivating, fascinating, thought-provoking novel that sparks endless introspection and reflection with its many intriguing themes.”- Kenny McCool
Buy it on AmazonThe Burial Rites by Hannah Kent
Genre: Historical Fiction, Thriller
Location: Iceland
“In 1828 in rural Iceland, three people are convicted of murdering two others. As Agnes Magnusdottir waits to be executed, she is given into the reluctant care of a faing family until sentence can be carried out. A young assistant minister is assigned as her spiritual mentor.
Based on real events and much research, the novel paints a vivid picture of a farming community in Iceland in 1828. The stories surrounding Agnes slowly unfold in third person supplemented with extracts from documents of the time. Agnes intersperses her thoughts in first person and her reflections add a depth of feeling and understanding to the narrative.
If you don’t already know the end and want to keep the suspense, then don’t look up the actual case until after you’ve read it. Hannah Kent weaves an engrossing story of how it might have been.”- Jaymbird
Buy it on AmazonMysterious Island by Jules Verne
Genre: Adventure
Location: Southern Pacific Ocean
Escaping civil war in a hot-air balloon a small group of men are blown off-course and stranded on a desert island. Forced to survive in isolation and at the mercy of raging storms, they set up an encampment and develop a relatively comfortable lifestyle.
Within four years, a mysterious presence makes itself known and the adventurers must contend with the fact that they are not alone.
Read it Free HereNext Year in Havana by Chanel Cleeton
Genre: Romance
Location: Cuba
Havana, 1958. The daughter of a sugar baron, nineteen-year-old Elisa Perez is part of Cuba’s high society, where she is largely sheltered from the country’s growing political unrest—until she embarks on a clandestine affair with a passionate revolutionary… Miami, 2017. Freelance writer Marisol Ferrera grew up hearing romantic stories of Cuba from her late grandmother Elisa, who was forced to flee with her family during the revolution. Elisa’s last wish was for Marisol to scatter her ashes in the country of her birth. Arriving in Havana, Marisol comes face-to-face with the contrast of Cuba’s tropical, timeless beauty and its perilous political climate. When more family history comes to light and Marisol finds herself attracted to a man with secrets of his own, she’ll need the lessons of her grandmother’s past to help her understand the true meaning of courage.
Buy it on AmazonUtopia by Thomas More
Genre: Satire
Location: Off the coast of Brazil
In Utopia, Thomas More gives us a traveller’s account of a newly-discovered island where the inhabitants enjoy a social order based on natural reason and justice, and human fulfilment is open to all. As the traveller describes the island, a bitter contrast is drawn between this rational society and the practices of Europe. How can the philosopher reform his society? In his discussion, More takes up a question first raised by Plato and which is still a challenge in the contemporary world. In the history of political thought few works have been more influential than Utopia, and few more misunderstood.
Read it Free Here Buy it on AmazonA Caribbean Mystery by Agatha Christie
Genre: Crime
Location: Caribbean island of St Honoré
“Humour is probably not something people associate with Agatha Christie but she did have plenty of it, and used it usually when portraying silly and arrogant people. A Caribbean Mystery sees our lovely Ms Marple in the West Indies, where nothing seems to happen when compared to St Mary’s Mead, until of course there is a murder, and everyone is a potential suspect. Many red herrings take us on a variety of paths, but this time a clue is given near the beginning, which will allow some readers to actually find out who is the murderer by the end. That is if you don’t let yourself be lead all over the place by our manipulative author.”-Veronique
Buy it on AmazonWe Were Liars by E. Lockhart
Genre: Young Adult, Psychological Thriller
Location: Martha’s Vineyard, USA
Following a fire accident, a girl is washed up on the beach suffering from amnesia. One year later, Cadence returns to her family’s private island haunted by dark secrets. In her attempts to expose the lies surrounding the privileged and reckless Sinclair family, Cadence embarks on a roller-coaster ride leading to heartbreaking truths about love, friendship and sacrifice.
Buy it on AmazonNation by Terry Pratchett
Genre: Fantasy
Location: Fictional Island
Anyone who is plotting a secret escape to a desert island this summer, should brush up on their survival skills with this witty adventure tale. When a massive tsunami, caused by volcanic eruption, obliterates an island in the Southern Pelagic Ocean, the entire population of Nation perishes, taking its culture, traditions and history to their grave. The only hope of recovery now lies in the hands of Mau. Together with a shipwrecked British girl Daphne, the native islander must resist the invasion, question his faith and rekindle his heritage in his bid to rebuild the New Nation. Complete with foul-mouthed parrots, shamans and cannibals, this utopian tale will teleport you to a mind-boggling place you never thought possible.
Buy it on AmazonThe Tempest by William Shakespeare
Genre: Tragicomedy
Location: Fictional island
A tale of absolution and reunion, The Tempest is often referred to as “the most lyrical play”. It offers a unique perspective on maritime events at a specific time in history when Europe launches the exploration of the New World. This wonderfully compelling story describes the consequences of a shipwreck caused by a storm. When the surviving passengers are washed upon the enchanted island, the fate brings them face-to-face with their sworn enemies- exiled Prospero and his daughter Miranda desperately seeking the revenge for betrayal and the loss of their property. The play skilfully captures different shades of human nature interweaving different subplots together at a crucial intersection point where “all is well that ends well”.
Read it Free Here Buy it on AmazonThe Priory of The Orange Tree by Samantha Shannon
Genre: Fantasy, Science Fiction
Location: Fictional Island of Seiiki
“The Priory of The Orange Tree follows four narrators—Ead, Tané, Loth and Niclays—who live in a world divided, East and West, over the opinions of dragons. In the East they are revered as gods, while in the West they are feared due to the haunting history of the Nameless One, an evil dragon who has been locked away for a thousand years in the Abyss and kept there by the bloodline of the Queendom of Inys, ruled by the Berethnet matriarchy. As with all fantasy novels, a chain of events sparks action in our main characters’ lives that drives them across kingdoms and oceans, encountering pirates and mythical beasts, and towards and away from one another in both physical and metaphorical senses. It’s got lots of action, great dialogue, court intrigue, dragons and more. Plus there is great romance as well as amazing platonic female friendships that you really don’t see much in high fantasy.”- Maxwell
Stella
Stella is a Marketing Consultant and has been writing content for Full Text Archive since 2015. When she is not writing, she is meticulously planning our social and e-mail campaigns. Stella holds a bachelor’s degree in English and Russian Literature, which has provided a broad foundation from which she continues to explore the written world.
She spends her free time reading, visiting old castles and discovering new coffee shops. She can be reached at stella