Robinson

Sometimes people say to me, 'If only you hadn't undertaken that journey . . . ' 'What a pity you didn't catch an earlier plane . . . ' or 'To think that you nearly went by sea!'
I am inclined to reject the idea behind these remarks in the same way as I reject the idea that it is best to have never been born.

I've signed up for a Muriel Spark Centenary Reading challenge and this is the first book I've read for it.

The story is told from the point of view of January Marlow, a widowed woman who is one of three survivors of a plane crash on an isolated island near the Azores. The only inhabitants of the island are Robinson, who bought the island from its previous owner and renamed it after himself, and an 11-year-old boy named Miguel who has been living with Robinson since his father's death.

Of the survivors, Jimmie is hardly injured, while January is knocked unconscious but doesn't take long to recover, and Tom is bed-bound with broken bones, with January reluctantly nursing him. Having failed to attract the attention of searching planes after the crash, the three survivors will be stuck on the island for several months until the arrival of the boat bringing the workers who will harvest Robert's pomegranates, as Robinson does not have a radio.

In general, January does not seem to be fond of men, with Robinson and Tom reminding her of her brothers-in-law, neither of whom she likes, although she does concede that one of them has some good qualities as her is kind to her son. January is an enthusiastic Catholic convert, while Robinson is now very anti-Catholic, having left the church due to dismay over the rise of Marian idolatry, and Tom's business interests include running an occult magazine and selling lucky charms, so religious tensions feed into the personality clashes.

When Robinson disappears, and blood-stains are found near the house, Miguel is distraught and the survivors of the crash suspect each other of murder, but I noticed a massive Chekhov's Gun that might have something to do with his disappearance, and I was right about that.

The Abbess of Crewe

Aiding and Abetting ( )