Review: Island Of The Lost by Joan Druett

A Tale Of Two….Shipwrecks

Joan Druett writes about shipwrecks in “Island Of The Lost” and that on its own perhaps is not very attention-grabbing. However, when two shipwrecks happen with two very different crews on the same island, at the same time, things heat up quite a bit.

Now, there’s potential for contrast. Which crew handles it better? Which crew maintains order? Which….resort to violence and cannibalism? WHOA, that escalated FAST!

This is the real life story of what happens on Auckland Island in 1864 and it is a fascinating study of the human will to live and how differently people react when faced with problems.

When Worship Erupts

The Auckland Islands are notoriously a terrible place to be shipwrecked, especially during this time period. The weather is brutal for much of the year and food sources can be scarce. 

One of the crews confronts this reality quickly after landing. Their first days are filled with facing one new adversity after another. However, on a Sunday morning about two weeks after their wreck, something beautiful happens.

The sun freezing rain and harsh winds cease. The sun comes out. 

As one of the men writes: “In this moment of peace and benediction, after the terrible trials we had undergone, we all of us felt in the bottom of our hearts the awakening of an irresistible need of devotion.”

The Captain just happens to find a Bible in one of his chests they salvaged from the wreck and, “we begged him to read us a fine passage from the Gospels…we listened with deepest attention.”

Druett describes it this way to close an early chapter in the book:

“Musgrave (the Captain) chose the Gospel according to Matthew. Raynal related that when the captain read out Christ’s exhortation to His Disciples to love one another, all of the listeners ‘burst into tears.’….For the five castaways this moment was a deeply significant one.”

That, in my opinion, is one of the finest parts the book. It captivated me to see men, in times of deep desperation and deprivation, find it so….necessary to hear the Word read out loud and worship together. 

What a moment captured with such authenticity.

No Easy Way Out

Those men were at the beginning of a long, arduous road of survival and escape.  The second shipwreck was soon to arrive and they would have no such moment of worship.

I won’t spoil anything further. The book is well worth the read and Druett has given us a riveting account of history. 

Have you read Island Of The Lost? What are your thoughts?

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