The Fourth Island

 

The Fourth Island by Sarah Tolmie

When a dead man washes up on shore in a small village on Inis Meain wearing a sweater that is both familiar and foreign, the villagers don't quite know what to make of it. And so our story begins.

This little novel was a really good read, but I'm having trouble putting my finger on how exactly to describe it. It's a close look at the lives of the people in a little village on an island, and as such it's at times a bit dark and foreboding and at other times hopeful and peaceful. It's simple and small, while also examining some seemingly universal elements of human nature. It's written in beautiful prose, so I felt both thoughtful and peaceful upon finishing it.

Fourth Island is set on the Aran Islands, three islands off the coast of Ireland. (My husband and I actually flew over them and visited the 'Big Island,' Inis Mor, several years ago, and Tolmie's writing so strongly recalled that for me that I couldn't help but go back and look through our travel pictures of that trip after finishing the book.) The islands are captivating, set apart in place and time, steeped in thousands of years of their own history and Irish history and surrounded by the expanse of the ocean. They are the perfect setting for a book that has its own mystical elements with the existence of a mysterious 4th island, Inis Caillte - or the Lost Island, a refuge for those who are lost.

Through the tale we learn a little about mysterious-sweater-man, and the people who lost him. But more about the people who find him, and about what it means to be lost, and sometimes, what it means to be found. 

Some photos from our time on Inis Mor: