Author(s): Tom Neale

Biography & Memoir

A re-issue of the long-out-of-print 1966 classic, this is the story of one New Zealander brave enough to do what we have all now and then dreamed of doing - go and live alone on a desert island. 

In his youth an ordinary seaman and for years a shopkeeper in the Cook Islands, Tom Neale was in his fifties when he turned his back on society to live alone on a South Pacific atoll named Suwarrow. With him he took nothing but a couple of cats, some bric-a-brac to tie and bolt his meagre dwelling, and the strength of body and mind to survive.

In the six years over which he wrote this autobiography, Neale experienced heroic moments battling the elements, including a furious hurricane that engulfed the coral islet; five desperate hours in a stormy lagoon with a cripplingly strained back; and even a reluctant bit of blood-letting on wild pigs and a mammoth sea turtle.

But along with the toils and perils came years of peace and beauty. Building a chicken coop; baking with banana leaves; the delight drawn from a sip of brandy; taming a wild duck - all of these simple pleasures a reminder of what we take for granted in our own lives.