How big must a man''s folly be, that it can cost him the whole of his life? As big as a ship; as big as an island. 1704: Alexander Selkirk, navigator of a buccaneering ship in the South Pacific Ocean, is abandoned by his crew on a deserted island. An intelligent yet disagreeable man, he surely only has himself to blame for this ignominious fate. It is undoubtedly his unbending inability to compromise or to abate his arrogance that has led to his exile. And yet, in the unforgiving fact of such stark desertion, explanations and reasons why become mere inconsequential quibbles. Selkirk must use his grit, tenacity and ingenuity to survive the harsh and unfamiliar landscape of the island. But logistical necessities are only superficial and trials abound. As time stretches on - warped, flexing, immeasurable - the mental toll of isolation takes Selkirk to the brink of sanity, distorting his perception of reality. Now that he has only himself, who is this man who has never truly belonged? In Cast Away , Francesca de Tores reimagines in mesmeric detail and sparkling prose the real-life years Alexander Selkirk spent as a castaway on a desert island, the inspiration for the classic novel Robinson Crusoe . Ousted from society, left in the company of only a goat and a cat, his story asks us who we are - and who we become - when no one is around.

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Francesca de Tores is a novelist and poet. She is the author of six novels, published in more than 20 languages. Her first historical novel, Saltblood, was awarded the 2024 Wilbur Smith Adventure Writing Prize. In addition to a collection of poems, her poetry is widely published in journals and anthologies. She grew up in Lutruwita/Tasmania and, after fifteen years in England, is now living in Naarm/Melbourne.

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'Excellent in basically every imaginable way' IRISH INDEPENDENT
'A revelatory meditation on humanity' GUARDIAN
**'**De Tores builds Selkirk's world with detail and patience - it's an impressive imaginative feat' THE TIMES
**'*Beautiful, fascinating, heartbreaking, philosophically engaging - and often very funny' JO HARKIN
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How big must a man's folly be, that it can cost him the whole of his life? As big as a ship; as big as an island.

1704: Scottish sailor Alexander Selkirk has been abandoned by his own shipmates on a remote, uninhabited island. With little hope of rescue, and wild goats and cats as his only companions, he is forced to confront not only the urgent challenges of survival, but also the troubled, unsavoury past that has brought him here. What kind of man is deliberately stranded by his crew, to face near-certain death?

On the island, he must use his grit, tenacity and ingenuity to survive. As his isolation deepens, Selkirk's experience takes an extraordinary and often blackly comic turn, for the island's consolations prove as unexpected as its trials. The longer he is stranded, the more Selkirk wonders if he will ever escape the island, and in what ways he will be changed if he does.

A tale of adventure and endurance, isolation and friendship, despair and hope, this gripping, singular novel asks who we are - and who we become - when everything else is stripped away.

In Cast Away, award-winning author Francesca de Tores boldly reimagines the real-life story of Alexander Selkirk, the inspiration for the classic novel Robinson Crusoe. The world knows Crusoe's story - yet what unfolds on Selkirk's island is stranger by far . . .