Lucy Irvine (born 1 February 1956) is a British

adventurer An adventure is an exciting experience or undertaking that is typically bold, sometimes risky. Adventures may be activities with danger such as traveling, exploring, skydiving, mountain climbing, scuba diving, river rafting, or other extreme sp ...

and

author An author is the writer of a book, article, play, mostly written work. A broader definition of the word "author" states: "''An author is "the person who originated or gave existence to anything" and whose authorship determines responsibility f ...

. She is known for spending a year on the uninhabited island of Tuin and for her book, '' Castaway'', describing the experience.

Early life

Born in

Whitton, London Whitton is an area in the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames, England. Historically, the boundaries of Whitton were the north-western part of Twickenham manor, bounded internally by the sections of the River Crane and the Duke of Northumberl ...

, Irvine had a tumultuous and free spirited adolescence, in which she replaced formal education with travel and adventure. She first ran away from school at twelve and had no full-time schooling after her thirteenth birthday. Before writing ''Castaway'', she had been employed as a charlady, monkey keeper, waitress, stonemason's mate, life model, pastry cook, and concierge.

Books

In 1981, Irvine responded to an advert placed by writer Gerald Kingsland and they became intentional castaways for a year on the isolated and uninhabited island of Tuin, in the

Torres Strait The Torres Strait (), also known as Zenadh Kes, is a strait between Australia and the Melanesian island of New Guinea. It is wide at its narrowest extent. To the south is Cape York Peninsula, the northernmost extremity of the Australian mai ...

between

New Guinea New Guinea (; Hiri Motu: ''Niu Gini''; id, Papua, or , historically ) is the world's second-largest island with an area of . Located in Oceania in the southwestern Pacific Ocean, the island is separated from Australia by the wide Torr ...

and Australia. In 1983, she published her account of the experience in '' Castaway'', which was later used as the basis for the 1986 film of the same name. According to Irvine, the film, directed by

Nicolas Roeg Nicolas Jack Roeg (; 15 August 1928 – 23 November 2018) was an English film director and cinematographer, best known for directing ''Performance'' (1970), '' Walkabout'' (1971), ''Don't Look Now'' (1973), '' The Man Who Fell to Earth'' (1976 ...

, is more about the relationship between an older man and a young woman than it is about her experiences on the island. Following the success of ''Castaway'', in 1985 she published ''Runaway'' about her life leading up to the decision to spend a year on Tuin. It describes how, while hitchhiking in Greece, she was raped at knife-point and subsequently suffered a mental breakdown. She published her first novel ''One is One'' in 1989. Irvine was approached by Diana Hepworth and her husband Tom to write their biography. In 1947, the two British

expatriate An expatriate (often shortened to expat) is a person who resides outside their native country. In common usage, the term often refers to educated professionals, skilled workers, or artists taking positions outside their home country, either ...

s set sail from England and embarked upon a hazardous journey in search of a faraway paradise where they could raise a family. They settled on Pigeon Island in the Solomons, running a trading business. Irvine accepted the invitation and in 1998 travelled to the Solomon Islands to immerse herself once again in island life. She was accompanied by her two youngest children and after a year, returned to write ''Faraway''.

Personal life

In 1984, Irvine bought the isolated cottage Rumachroy, near

Nairn Nairn (; gd, Inbhir Narann) is a town and royal burgh in the Highland council area of Scotland. It is an ancient fishing port and market town around east of Inverness, at the point where the River Nairn enters the Moray Firth. It is the tradi ...

in Scotland, where, most of the time as a single mother, she raised her three sons. In 2007, she moved to south-eastern Bulgaria. She joined Mensa at the age of 16 and is a member of The

Chelsea Arts Club The Chelsea Arts Club is a private members' club at 143 Old Church Street in Chelsea, London with a membership of over 3,800, including artists, sculptors, architects, writers, designers, actors, musicians, photographers, and filmmakers. The club ...

. Lucy has founded a registered non-profit animal rescue called LIFE, Lucy Irvine Foundation Europe. It’s located in Bulgaria. Working in the poorest region and working with Roma. There is a website and also a Facebook page. Over 200 dogs have been successfully adopted to the UK and LIFE routinely holds SpayAThons as well.

References

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External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Irvine, Lucy English travel writers British women travel writers 1956 births Living people Castaways Mensans