Cast Away
By Francesca de Tores
Review by Kazia
De Tores delivers an immersive and character-driven narrative with this fictionalised account of the adventures of Alexander Selkirk, the real inspiration behind Robinson Crusoe. The power of de Tores’s writing is such that having an unlikeable, unreliable and self-important protagonist was no deterrent. This is a mewling and meandering story of self-actualisation from the perspective of someone desperate to avoid reckoning with themself. The pathetic, self-serving desperation that propels this story is also the driving force that provides it heart. In spite of mostly being a (somewhat cautionary) tale of the arrogance of men, this is also a tale of the stubborn and undeniable grit of nature. This is not the plot-driven, action-packed tale of derring-do that might be expected of a book on this kind of historical figure but a patiently revealed exploration of the human spirit, flawed as it may be, and what remains when we are left to ourselves.
For fans of the original Robinson Crusoe or James by Percival Everett.
