This book has over 1,300 four and five-star reviews on Amazon. There is a good reason for all this praise. It’s a terrific book! Most people seem almost apologetic that they enjoyed this book as much as they did. That’s probably because the plot sounds like something you have seen or read many times.
The Callahan family, from Chicago, are headed for a relaxing summer vacation in the Maldives, a chain of 1,200 islands in the Indian Ocean. Their 16-year-old son, AJ has had a tough year battling cancer but now appears fully recovered. He has missed a great deal of school with his illness and his parents have hired Anna Emerson, a 30-year-old woman at a crossroads in her life when her boyfriend of 8 years is displaying a major commitment phobia. Anna accepts the tutoring position thinking perhaps a summer away will do her a world of good. AJ has asked and been granted permission to take a flight on the following day as he had a end of year high school party to attend on the date his parents depart. On the flight to the Maldives, Anna and AJ’s small plane crashes somewhere in the Indian Ocean and they are washed ashore on some unknown island. Thus begins their long saga.
So, do the 16-year-old boy and the 30-year-old woman become lovers? I’m not going to tell you that. I will tell you that Tracey Garvis-Greaves creates two characters that you will come to care about very much. You will share their pain and frustrations, their joys and sorrows through weeks and months and years in the solitude of this island. Does it all end happily? I can’t tell you that, either. I can tell you that you won’t regret reading On The Island. I enjoyed it immensely. I gave this book ****1/2 stars.