A document of a unique experience that I think every nature lover is slightly jealous or at least intrigued by. With her lyrical evocation of the natural world and its enthusiastic and resourceful approach to the problems of island life, Alexander's book will inspire and entertains anyone who has felt the need for escape.

The island is there too; it looks like a melancholic whale, trailing through the waves – a living creature rather than some piece of rock.

They’re not well paid nor do they have access to food very easily and there was no electricity in the house then (which has changed by this point, but not so during the 1980s that Alexander lived on Skomer), so there’s many challenges in living in such a place – particularly when something goes wrong, like food supplies running out or Mike getting caught in a storm. Which sucks because I was really looking forward to reading this book, I love anything written about the non-touristy parts of Europe, the UK, and Ireland.

There is much joy too and an Adam and Eve feel to the narrative; a man and a woman, isolation, a beautiful but dangerous habitat, and animals galore. Even the extensive use of adjectives is part of the honeymooned lexicon which makes this story real. I was heart wrenchingly gutted when the precious pear pudding was ruined or when a bird flew in through the window, leaving shards of glass in the freshly cooked pies. Rosanne Alexander vividly portrays the cacophony of the birdlife, the colourful profusion of wild flowers, the enchanting seasonal arrival of the seals and the many hostile encounters with the waves. It was beautiful descriptive writing about the power of nature, with lovely tales about puffins and desperately sad bits about oil spills.As I read this lyrical account of the Alexanders’ sojourn, it struck me how words still transport us, and how we all subliminally crave for a decade on a lonely, uninhabited island on the edge of the Atlantic.