Some interesting quotes from the "Prospero" of the island:
"... metal doesn't die, it rusts and tarnished. Beware of anything that cannot die," said Mr. van Loomis. "It has no chance of greater life." [p. 108]
"The world is round," went on Mr. van Loomis, ignoring him [Valentine, the "Ferdinand" character in The Tempest]. "...That is the pattern we are meant to follow. The cycle is the shape of wisdom." ... "A line has no beauty and no end," said Mr. van Loomis. "When it's gone, it's gone; you will never see it again. A circle is bounded it has discipline. The great things of the world are always disciplined. Look at a sonnet----" [p. 109] ( )

This novel was published in October 1950 after appearing as a serial in Ladies Home Journal. This is a dated story that is still enjoyable - a reminder how much the world has changed since 1950 but also a reminder of how much people may not have when you look at instincts and needs and desires.

A seaplane has been blown hundreds of miles off course in a storm and the fuel runs out just as the two fliers see what might be an island in the distance. We are somewhere north of Australia towards India. On the island is someone we might call an old colonial, a Scottish Earl who lives there with his daughter having fled the world when she was perhaps 1 year old and she now approaches 21.

The author tells us up front that this story came from Shakespeare's "The Tempest".

I liked the story - it is something of a morality play to me .. an allegory ... I felt like I was watching a film from another era. Quite a few of Godden's novels were made into films. This one seems like it could have been. However Godden does seem to spend a bit too much time spinning around inside character's heads. Parts get a little boring but you have to pay attention for when she might drop something important in. The writing is a little awkward at times, and then it also shines.

I have decided not to say much more about the story because I don't want to spoil it. The arrival of the lost fliers serves as a catalyst to change and they arrive precisely at the moment when a sort of unrest has come upon several of the main characters. I kept expecting something awful to happen but it doesn't. That isn't this kind of story. This is more of an awakening thing. ( )