Our "sweltering summer" series continues this week with a re-play of a truly wild desert-island memoir. When Lucy Irvine answered a classified ad to play Girl Friday to a real-life Robinson Crusoe on a remote tropical island, she embarked on an enthralling—and at times harrowing—year-long adventure. The result was her bestselling 1983 memoir, Castaway, a beautifully-written tale of survival. We’re diving into Irvine’s unforgettable story with special guest Francesca Segal, whose own island-centric novel, Welcome to Glorious Tuga, was recently optioned for TV by See-Saw Films.

Mentioned in this episode:

Castaway by Lucy Irvine

The Lucy Irvine Foundation

Welcome to Glorgious Tuga by Francesca Segal

Runaway and Faraway by Lucy Irvine

The Islander by Gerald Kingsland

The Secret Life of a Schoolgirl by Rosemary Kingsland

Castaway 1986 film trailer starring Amanda Donohoe and Oliver Reed

Wild by Cheryl Strayed

“Alone” on the History Channel

See-Saw Films

One is One by Lucy Irvine