The Castaways – Lucy Clarke

Sisters Lori and Erin have only had each other to rely on for a long time. For a while Lori had a husband, Pete, but now he has gone off with her best friend, Zoe, so it is just the two of them again.

To ease Lori’s pain, Erin books a holiday for the two of them in Fiji. The resort is on a remote part of the archipelago, so there is an overnight stopover on the main island, and it is there that their lives fracture. There is a row; Erin storms off and stays out all night. In the morning, at the airport, Lori waits in vain for her sister to reappear in time for the flight. Her calls to Erin’s phone are unanswered and Lori takes off without her.

It is a small plane - pilot, flight attendant, and half a dozen passengers – and the weather closes in after take-off. No spoiler (look at the title), the plane crashes miles off course on a deserted island and the survivors must, well, survive as best they can as they wait for a rescue that shows no sign of coming.

Two years on, Erin, back in London, still has no news of her sister. Two years of obsessive research, badgering officials, and self-destructive, guilt driven behaviour (drink and men) has left her none the wiser. Until the pilot turns up alive, if unwell, in a Fijian hospital. Erin picks up the new lead and flies to Fiji.

From the start, the story unfolds in two timelines. Erin, in the now, and Lori in the then. Erin’s first person narrative has a breathless immediacy. Lori’s third person narrative, two years in arrears, is more measured but no less dramatic. The technique works very well as the two narratives converge to reveal not only how the castaways fare but also how their concealed backstories drive their seemingly erratic behaviour before, during and after the crash.

The sisterly bond is well dealt with, covering both the attachment and tensions of such a relationship. The traumatic separation and its aftermath have both women questioning and reassessing how they feel, which adds an extra dimension to the thriller aspect of the tale. And thriller it is -  the outcomes for both Lori and Erin are in the balance right to the end.