‘We are like islands in the sea, separate on the surface but connected in the deep.’
The separating seas in these fourteen beautiful and thought-provoking stories are variously wide, wild and deadly. They segregate islands that are both physical and metaphorical, and isolate the disparate characters that inhabit them. And yet, beneath the surface of each uniquely individual tale lies a connecting undercurrent of shared human experience.
Among others: a student in Dublin hoping for love while finding himself isolated by language; a WW1 officer losing his sight on a quarantine island; an executioner who is reviled by everyone, including herself; a woman separated from her husband during Covid 19 lockdown; and a recent arrival who fights for survival during one of New Zealand’s great maritime tragedies. And throughout, historical figures and their ghosts stalk the pages.
Islands Ever After is a collection of short stories, spanning the 18th century to the modern day. Primarily set on isles across Ireland, Scotland and New Zealand, they explore the experiences of outsiders, immigrants, eccentrics and outcasts in search of connection, understanding and, above all, belonging.