Overview

Charles Waring awakes from an exhaustion-induced sleep to find himself the sole survivor of a Sunderland flying boat which has crashed on an uninhabited island after being crippled by a U-boat. While he searches for the remainder of his crew he tries to remember the survival techniques he has been taught; using materials at hand he builds a rough shelter and starts looking for food. As his soul-shattering isolation continues he experiences a whole spectrum of emotions, from anger and guilt to frustration and despair. How long can his physical and mental strength keep him going? Alone is a charged and tense novel which superbly evokes the elemental battle of one man against starvation and psychological breakdown. Charles Waring, however, is not alone - his nightmares and delirium invoke the spectres of his dead comrades, and in the dream-time of the island, reality and fantasy become virtually indistinguishable. A plausible and naturalistic story of endurance against the odds.