Our Virgin Island

by Robb White

Describes how the author and his wife left the United States during the Depression and lived on a barren Caribbean island

Genres: Glaciers, Memoir, Travel

Unknown Binding

First published January 1, 1939

About the author

Robb White was partnered with gimmick horror film king William Castle during Castle's most popular and productive period. Born in the Philippines, White was a preacher's son who held a wide variety of jobs before landing in the Navy during World War II. He initially collaborated with Castle on the short-lived TV series "Men of Annapolis" (1957), then joined forces with the enterprising producer-director on the horror thrillers "Macabre" (1958), "House on Haunted Hill" (1959), "The Tingler" (1959), "Homicidal" (1961), and "13 Ghosts" (1960). He later went back to TV writing, including "Perry Mason" (1957), as well as novels.

Reviews

[Byerly Woodward · Rating 5 out of 5]

I think I can recommend this book with 5 stars as I have read this book many times. Actually more than 100 times. I started reading this book when I was a child and it was in a Reader's Digest Condensed Book format. Then when I was older, I got an actual copy of it. I read it every year and now it's an old friend. When I was younger I thought living on an island with your lover was the most romantic and interesting thing a person could do. Actually now that I'm older, I still feel this way.

[Dawn Meyers · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book was written the 1950s about a time shortly before WWII when the author and his wife purchased an Island in the Virgin Islands for 60 and built a home there, while he launched his writing career. It had some racial references to the black local inhabitants that nowadays would be considered politically incorrect, but overall, I enjoyed the book.

[Nancy · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is one of my all time favorite books. Favorite line: woman to shark: "You vagabond you."

[Roberta · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wow. What a memoir. I started out thinking this was going to be a quaint little read, and it is nothing of the kind.

Robb White and his new bride, Rodie, set their sights on living in the Virgin Islands during the Depression. What they accomplish after buying a tiny island, Marina Cay, is nothing short of amazing. They leave behind all the expectations of what their married life ought to be.

At first, they live on almost nothing but what they can catch and/or grow. They cobble together a house of concrete slabs, where they weather many challenges as they make it their home. A home they never want to leave.

No spoilers….did not anticipate the ending.

[Kim · Rating 5 out of 5]

I just finished this amazing memoir of Robb and Rodie White living on a small Cay in the British Virgin Islands in the late 1930s until the start of WWII. I think people were made differently back then because I can't imagine surviving what they went through. When they first arrived, they lived in a sad, forsaken area of Tortola. They navigated swarms of mosquitoes, sand flies, wild dogs as well as a lot of shady people. They persevered and eventually found Marina Cay. For $60 it became their island. Over time, they built a sturdy concrete house with comforts that made living there feel like paradise. Robb wrote short stories mostly for children, and as he found his footing as a writer, money came in, making life a bit easier. Rodie never complained and seemed to rise to all the challenges thrown her way. Most of the time, they worked nearly naked, and at one point, her skin was so dark from the sun, a medical form listed her as a Negro. Their life there was directed by the winds, the weather, and the basic need to survive. They thrived, and their marriage created a tight bond. Sadly, just as the war began, the British government said that they didn't have a license to live at Marina Cay, noting that Robb White had misrepresented the British Virgin Islands. Their feelings were hurt. The White's had to leave their paradise. Heartbreaking really. Robb went on to serve in the US Navy throughout WWII and Rodie went back to Thomasville, GA. What a great story.

[Shannon Giammaria · Rating 5 out of 5]

This by far is my favourite book. Like another reviewer noted, I also found the condensed book in a reader’s digest on a dusty shelf on what was our new but very old abandoned little island, so you can imagine the draw. I loved it so much that my husband bought me the full novel for our anniversary…the cost was outrageous but worth every penny! It now sits on that same shelf (a little less dusty) wrapped in a plastic book protector which I will leave for the next future owners of our little island. It’s a must read if you’re romantic at heart and dream of owning and escaping to a little island even just for a brief moment with Robb White.

[Jennifer Robb · Rating 3 out of 5]

The story of a newlywed couple who take up residence in the British Virgin Islands. They are able to buy Marina Cay for a song and live there for 3-5 years, until Robb is called into service during WWII and while their land grant for ownership of the Cay is in dispute so they return to her family plantation in Georgia.

[Todd · Rating 5 out of 5]

By the time I finished reading this book, I felt as if I had lived it. This is a love story, a true story of chasing dreams, losing them to villainy and evil, and finding something even greater along the way.

[Carl · Rating 4 out of 5]

I liked it for three reasons: it describes a part of the world I love to visit (BVI) in its relatively undeveloped days. It explains a lot about social norms and what to expect from people in the BVI. And it was a hard book to find (out of print and rare).

[Shanna · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.75 This was refreshing. The good old days when people treated others with respect and life was simple. Loved that these newly weds started their life together on an island with just them and made it.

[Elle · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is the story of Marina Cay in the BVI.

[Virginia Brien · Rating 5 out of 5]

A great book about a young married couple who buys a Caribbean island right before WWII. Their lives are affected by illness and the war but the book leaves a charming impression.

[Staci · Rating 4 out of 5]

Absolutely loved this story. Loved how it was written. It was told so well that I had a hard time putting in down.