Customer Reviews

100 Days on Holy Island: A Writer's Exile

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I came to 10O Days on Holy Island: a Writer's Exile after reading and enjoying Peter Mortimer's book Broke Through Britain: One Man's Penniless Odyssey. In some ways this new book resembles the previous book, and in its own way it is just as enjoyable. Once again Peter Mortimer makes himself vulnerable to odd and often difficult circumstances with the idea in mind that he will find fodder for a book. And again he succeeds. This time he does not travel very far; he rents a cottage in a small community, on a cold, wet, and windy island, off the coast of north-east England for 100 days, in the winter of 2001. A causeway joins the island to the rest of Britan, but daily tides drown the road, isolating the community for long hours. The island is tiny: Mortimer can walk around both island and its adjoining sand dunes in seven hours. The isolation and small size help give the island community a strange character. Peter Mortimer records a day by day account of his encounter with the island, the islanders, and other visitors who like him take refuge on the island. He also gives snippets of his personal life. Peter Mortimer seldom strives to say anything profound but finds meaning in the ordinary while living for a 100 days in an extraordinary place. He does include a brillaint and moving poem written by a young poet, who visits him on the island and later commits suicide. All in all, it's an unusual and insightful read.