Judith Scahlansky talks about ‘remote islands’ in The Guardian…

What I did not expect was that so many of the island stories I would dig up would be so horrendous: shipwrecks, failed expeditions, prison colonies, megalomaniac conquerors, cannibalism, murder and mayhem. Most of these islands are barren, without drinking water. In fact, many islands are unsuitable settings for finding paradise: hell is an island too. Sooner or later, man’s will to survive turns him into a beast, and his dream into failure. Men go mad, start rebellions or choose to drown themselves in the sea. (more…)