Island

by Jane Rogers

Book Overview

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...

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0618139311
• ISBN13: 9780618139316
• Release Date: November 2001
• Publisher: Houghton Mifflin
• Length: 256 Pages
• Weight: 0.60 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.7" x 5.5" x 8.5"

Customer Reviews

As Beautiful as It Is Disturbing

I usually detest reviews that begin with a witty paradox; most of the time it strikes me as a spurious attempt to sound clever without actually saying anything at all. But in the case of Jane Rogers' ISLAND, paradox speaks the truth: this is an unpleasant book that you find you cannot put down, a book as beautiful as it is disturbing. Perhaps "enchanting" is the best word, in the etymological sense: it puts a spell on you. Rogers' characters are perverse oddities, and while you may not be able to identify with them, you cannot help but become entangled in their lives. They sadden you; they disgust you; you pity them. Yet the real beauty here is not in the story, but in the storytelling. Indeed, storytelling is one of the leitmotifs of the book, and the disturbed, homicidal narrator could be said to be trying to figure out the story of her own life, to bring order to it, to take control of the plot. Our unreliable narrator, one Nikki Black --"with teeth" or "with fangs"-- is one of the most unlikeable characters ever. She hates the world only slightly more than she hates herself, and all of her rage is focused on a single target: her mother. The first line of the novel begins: "When I was twenty-eight I decided to kill my mother." An ambitious opener, yet Rogers manages to build suspense exponentially. Suffice it to say that carrying out the deed is not nearly as easy as deciding upon it. As the critics have said, this is a psychological thriller, but it is above all masterful storytelling. Form follows function and, since we think in words, as the narrator becomes less stable, so too does the language in the novel. This isn't gratuitous, post-modernist stylistics; it is fine writing that brings psychological depth to the character. Rogers is one of those rare writers (Joyce Carol Oates is another) who can create fear or anxiety even in the most ordinary of circumstances: a character reflecting upon smoking cigarettes, a mundane conversation about a business proposition... in her hands these become creepy events. As for the story, Faulkner comes to mind here, and the gothic genre in general, but ultimately there is redemption in this novel. Nothing sweet or maudlin, mind you, just something that allows the reader to finally breathe a sigh of relief. Okay: Exhale.... Whew, what a great book!

Life as a Grimm's Fair yTale

The central theme of this terrific book is the archetype of the abandoned child and what a winding path we must find through the wood with no mother to guide us. Danger, betrayal, death and love: a good fairy tale for adults.

POWERFUL AND UNSETTLING...

Jane Rogers' ISLAND is one of those books that has the power to scare you -- REALLY scare you, deeply. The vividness with which she develops her narrator, Nikki Black, brings her to life in such a way as to make her VERY real. This book is quite a wild ride -- a look inside the life and thought processes of someone who has been so damaged by her life experiences that she decides that finding and murdering her birth mother is the only way to escape the fear that governs her psyche.Rogers writing skills are very effective -- not only in developing and fleshing out her characters, but in setting the scene and mood of the novel as well. It's almost as if we are actually there with Nikki on a small island off Scotland's coast, feeling the wind and smelling the salt in the air, submerged in the seemingly uncontrollable emotions and events that lead inexorably to the book's well-crafted, unconventional climax.This is a very engrossing novel, hard to put down -- it reminded me in some ways of Patrick McGrath's masterful SPIDER (which I HIGHLY recommend as well). Pass ISLAND by at your peril -- but be prepared for a gripping experience.

Killing Therapy

Enough introspective, tortuous self-discovery novels! Here is a narrator who determines to resolve her unhappy life by killing her mother. The language, characterization and plot of the book are just as refreshing as this unusual approach to self-realization. This smart, often disturbing book accomplishes alot, not the least of which is sustaining suspense even though the murder is confirmed on the first page, and making the narrator, a disturbed and sociopathic young woman, sympathetic and likable.

A lyrical page turner

I have seen this book ranked as of the ten best fiction books of 2000, and it certainly deserves it. I had not read Jane Rogers before, but here she proves that beautiful writing and easy, gripping reading can comfortably coexist. The story centers on a young woman given up for adoption at birth who has spent her life moving from one foster home to another. In the first sentence of the book she announces that she is going to find and kill her birth mother. She tracks her birth mother to an island off the Scottish coast, which proves to be a barren and windswept place of magic and fairy tales. Although the end is revealed in the prologue, this makes the book no less suspenseful and Rogers narration from inside the mind of the troubled protagonist is masterful. This is a hard book to put down and well worth reading.