An elegant hardback reprint of the classic 1966 book of low-key, low-tech, self-deprecating Kiwi can-do. And initiative. And resilience.
An Island to Oneself is almost an underwhelming read, written in such a matter-of-fact style (complete with a sprinkling of quaint, period-coloured social observations). But then you catch yourself in the middle of this humility-of-author, to find yourself reminding oneself that “Hey, this is truly remarkable.” The selection of photos and good-looking maps help in this regard too.
Because of this, the book also passes that ultimate readers’ test: hard to put down.
This new edition carries a 40-page epilogue by Stella, Tom’s daughter, who was born in 1958; and before Tom returned to his beloved Anchorage Island in Suvarov Atoll in 1962.
The ending of the book in this way provides a sometimes-poignant family context – which does still manage, however, to explain a lot.
As Stella writes in the memory of a five-year-old (almost six): “My father’s return from his second stay on Suwarrow*, in December 1963 is one of my earliest memories of him… At the wharf we stood holding hands with our mother and watched the ship unload. Then a tall, skinny man with white hair walked over to where we were standing, and my mother said, ‘This is your father.’”
Stella remembers a cold raspberry soda as part of that day too. A Kiwi classic.
*The spelling of the name of the atoll has changed in the time of the telling of this story.
