Island

From one of Britain's best-kept secrets, the novelist whom the Independent said "writes better than almost anyone of her generation," comes this brooding tale of the murderous ties that bind a mother and daughter. Abandoned at birth and shuttled among foster homes, Nikki Black decides at twenty-eight to seek out her birth mother, intent on killing her. Nikki's vengeance takes her to a remote island off the coast of Scotland, where both the beaches and the inhabitants are full of artifacts from the past that haunt the present. Here she discovers a witchlike mother who concocts remedies in her dank kitchen and a stuttering, monstrous brother whose seemingly simple mind is filled with stories of past islanders, crofters, and Vikings. Gradually her brother's dangerous love and strange way of seeing the world transform Nikki's life in ways that she -- and the reader -- could never expect.
With her signature blend of psychological intensity and strong moral underpinnings, Jane Rogers skillfully leads us into a primal, almost mythic world where our darkest impulses and most profound fears are played out to shocking consequence. Part fairy tale, part murder mystery, ISLAND is, like the madness it depicts, terrifying, logical, and utterly consuming.

Author: Jane Rogers
Publisher: Harper Perennial
Published: 11/14/2001
Pages: 256
Binding Type: Paperback
Weight: 0.70lbs
Size: 8.50h x 5.50w x 0.70d
ISBN: 9780618139316

Review Citation(s):
Entertainment Weekly 12/14/2001 pg. 79
New York Times 01/13/2002 pg. 24

About the Author
Rogers, Jane: - Jane Rogers has written six novels, including the award-winning Mr. Wroe's Virgins, which was a New York Times Notable Book and was dramatized as a BBC television serial, which aired on the Sundance Channel last winter. Rogers routinely writes for television and radio and teaches at Sheffield Hallam University. She lives in Lancashire, England. You can visit her website at: www.janerogers.org.