Sole Survivor

by Derek Hansen

Disillusioned with professional life, Rosie, a doctor, unexpectedly inherits a shack on the northern tip of New Zealand's Great Barrier Island and decides it's time to begin anew. She arrives at her home to find she has two neighbors sharing the wilderness -- Red O'Hara, traumatized by horrific wartime experiences working an the Burma railway as a P.O.W. of the Japanese, and Angus McLeod, a retired policeman, who has fled from a society he has as soft and contemptible. Rosie's sudden appearance panics Red and Angus. Both of them fear she will disrupt their neatly ordered lives. And they're right. Tough, smart, and practical, Rosie soon turn the lives of Red and Angus upside down. And as they work out their relationship, an unexpected threat draws them closer the depredations of a big Japanese trawler threaten to destroy their food supply and their environment. As they go to sea in a desperate attempt to prevent the rape of their island paradise, this extraordinary novel of survival and love moves toward a blazing finale reminiscent of another The African Queen.

Genres: Fiction

432 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1997

About the author

Derek was born in London in June 1944 about the same time Hitler thought London was a great place to send his V1 flying bombs.
At the age of four he convinced his parents to emigrate and spent the next sixteen years in Auckland being called a Pommy and a wimp for playing soccer and not rugby.
His first published short story appeared in his grammar school yearbook.
Equipped with a million ideas for novels he approached the leading national newspaper for a traineeship and was told he was too undisciplined; approached publishers and was told he was too young; approached an advertising agency and was welcomed into their embrace – they knew a fast, facile, fashionably glib mind when they saw one.
His talent took him London in the sixties where his quirky style and commercial instincts brought a rapid rise through the ranks to the country’s top advertising agency, accumulating many international awards along the way.
Derek was lured to Australia by the usual inducements – money, sunshine, money, lifestyle, money, etc – and spent the next twenty-five years doing ads and wishing he was writing novels instead.
About the time Bryce Courtenay wrote The Power of One and Peter Carey wrote Bliss, Derek and his partners sold their advertising agency and three years later he was free to pursue his true writing ambitions.
Having spent a lifetime reducing masses of information to less than 100 words or thirty seconds of TV time, working in exactly the opposite direction did not come easy.
An idea for a novel can be written on a folded napkin. What follows takes thousands of tablecloths.
One day over lunch Derek had the bright idea of breaking his novel down into more easily managed bite-sized pieces and so the idea for the Lunch series was born.
Lunch with the Generals became an instant bestseller in Australasia and was sold into Britain, Scandinavia, France and Germany. Lunch with Mussolini followed but it was Sole Survivor that piqued American interest.
Simon and Schuster decided to publish an American edition and Kennedy-Marshall (Sixth Sense, Snow Falling on Cedars) bought the rights to the movie on behalf of Disney in a $US750,000 deal.
Three weeks before the movie was due to go into production, shooting began on Castaway with Tom Hanks. Two movies about a man on an island surrounded by salt water was deemed one too many, and Sole Survivor the movie bit the dust. How typical of Hollywood to choose to make the wrong movie.
Derek has subsequently published a further five novels and three collections of short stories, but nothing quite as quirky or funny as his latest novel, A Man You Can Bank On.
Derek is married, has two grown-up children and lives most of the time in Avalon on Pittwater, and some of the time in Doonan on Queensland’s Sunshine Coast. Kingfish, salmon, bonito, bream and flathead live just outside his back door and the surf rises a short walk from the front door.
Someone had to have this life and Derek is just so glad that someone is him.

Reviews

[Sally906 · Rating 5 out of 5]

Opening Sentence: “…Red O’Hara woke at first light convinced that he should be dead and ashamed that he wasn’t …”

SOLE SURVIVOR is set in New Zealand in the 1960s on GreatBarrierIsland, 90 km north east of Auckland. Red O’Hara lives in a shack located at WreckBay, an isolated part of the island. A former World War II POW and Burma Railway survivor, he still carries his guilt for being alive and is haunted by nightmares 20 years after the end of the war. The only way he can keep the memories from winning control of his mind is by avoiding people and carrying out a fixed routine of work and exercise. He has two neighbours, the crusty Scotsman, Angus McCleod, a retired police inspector and Bernie, a dying alcoholic. For the three men life is rigid, isolated, simple, and predictable, each of them staying out of the way of the others.

Bernie dies and leaves his shack to Rosie Tretheway. Like Red and Angus, Rosie hates the world. She is a qualified doctor and psychologist but, disillusioned, gave her practise up to do market surveying. She loathes her former spouse, her progression of selfish lovers, and now her job. When she finds out about her inheritance Rosie simply packs her belongings and moves. Red and Angus are both horrified by this unexpected invasion into their secluded world and vow to make her life hell so she will go and leave them in peace. Rosie is determined to make a new life for herself on the island in spite of what Red or Angus do to discourage her. Despite their differences the trio are forced to become allies when a Japanese trawler captain begin to illegally fish nearby, threatening both the squabbling threesome, the livelihood of all the Great Barrier inhabitants and the delicate ecology of the island. Red, Angus, and Rosie must overcome their personal problems in order to present a united front against the illegal fishermen.

SOLE SURVIVOR was a really, really good story and was unputdownable. It was one of those rare books where all the characters were fleshed out and felt real, even the supporting cast. Rosie was a wonderful character, a gutsy woman with the determination and spirit to make a go of it despite her reception. Yes there is a love element, but it is not intrusive and very well handled. Mostly it has a multilayered plot that has adventure, suspense, humour and genuine pathos. This is the first book I have read by Derek Hansen and he is a masterful storyteller, I will look for more by him.

[Robin · Rating 3 out of 5]

Pretty good story about a woman who moves to a remote island off NZ and the trials and tribulations of adjusting not only to the lifestyle, but the other two male recluses on the island. Not a great book, but a good entertaining book. I would really give this book a 2.5. for lame sexual encounters and flirting. There is some really interesting informative stuff about the New Zealanders trying to stave off the Japanese fisherman who poach in their waters.

[Tom Hames · Rating 2 out of 5]

The book started out good, but after a hundred pages or so it really started dragging. I got tired of the love triangle (if it can be called that) and I thought that Rosie was portrayed in a very unrealistic way.

[Heather · Rating 5 out of 5]

The 3 main characters on this island are fascinating. How they intermingle and what happens is exciting. An excellent read.

[Tony · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very good story. Read it a few times

[Heather Lapinsky · Rating 1 out of 5]

I hated this book.

I really liked the idea of the story. The meat of the book kept me quite entertained and satisfied. I even loved almost all of the characters. All of the male characters, anyway. However, the way the author portrayed Rosie led me to believe he's never even talked to a female person in his life.

I just could not get over Rosie's reactions to things and the things she said. I'm no feminist. I just found myself knocked harshly back into reality every time Rosie spoke, asking myself, "What woman would ever react that way?"

If the author would have handled Rosie better, this would have been one of my favorite books.

[Claire Enders · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoyed the book overall, but I have a few hangups with the way the few women in the book are portrayed. Even though Rosie is supposedly a main character, she never receives the character development that Red does and she’s very much a woman written by a man - somewhat vapid, always naked, willing to trade sex to get what she wants, sleeping with someone because they say one thing that makes her happy, believing that she alone can fix a broken man. She comes across as a trope as opposed to a fully fleshed out character. Gloria as well is never developed and despite never showing any interest in Mickey and even being frustrated with his misogyny, she starts dating him out of nowhere. Aside from the complete lack of believability in the women characters, the story was interesting and compelling. As a randomly picked up book from a hostel reading nook, it worked well as an entertaining vacation read.

[Jessreads · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not my favorite. I love the idea of the people working together on an isolated island, but the behavior of the women was really hard to believe. Plus, chapters about securing government funding for chasing an illegal fishing boat have a very limited interest level. There was a little too much of that, and not enough about the island inhabitants.

[Cathy · Rating 4 out of 5]

A friend lent me this book to read as it is her favorite book and she reads it every year. I thoroughly enjoyed reading this book of love and friendship between people who are unlikely to be compatible but became very devoted as they shared a remote island and learned to overcome past trauma. It is easy to read and quite compelling.

[Peggy · Rating 3 out of 5]

A solid 3.5. I enjoyed the story once I got into it. I enjoyed the interaction of the three main characters navigating their flawed histories and burgeoning relationships much more than the detail of commercial fishing and clandestine trespassing / poaching into territorial waters.

[Reader · Rating 5 out of 5]

My favourite book ever. I read it every decade. Funny, smart, entertaining. Interesting characters. I love this island concept and their simple life. It’s laugh out loud material. Brilliantly written

[Christine · Rating 5 out of 5]

A thoroughly enjoyable and satisfying book. Based in New Zealand and containing some unlikely characters in a rather intriguing island setting. Looking forward to reading more of the author’s works.

[Alison · Rating 4 out of 5]

really interesting and compelling novel about life in a remote New Zealand island. Well written

[Klaas · Rating 3 out of 5]

Quite an enjoyable read, but lacked depth and seemed a bit over-explanatory and repetitive in places.

[Fiona · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved this book.

I got so involved I was there with the characters looking in and watching them. It weans what I was expecting at all and don't really her the total of this book, but that said I LOVED it....The only thing was that whilst reading it I was in Scotland and to New Zealand as I could relate to this location better.

[Carol Hall · Rating 5 out of 5]

This story has got to be in my Top 10 must read

[JennanneJ · Rating 2 out of 5]

It's not bad - I just read more than 100 pages, put it down, and forgot about it until I saw it sitting around! And now I just don't care to pick it up again.

[Tim Mapel · Rating 3 out of 5]

Enjoyed the setting of Great Barrier Island. Some of the writing wasn't great and some of the plot was predictable and forced.

[Liz Bonnet · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wonderful. The year is 1966 and on Great Barrier Island 55 miles off the coast of Auckland, New Zealand, Red O'Hara leads a solitary life. A former World War II POW, Red was hospitalized for a time upon his return and took to heart his doctors' advice to set objectives: "One day Red had surprised them by obliging. He wrote a single word in large childish letters and taped the sheet of paper to the wall above his bed. 'Survive,' was all it said." But even 20 years after the end of the war, he carries his guilt and his terror close; only an unvarying routine of work and exercise stands between him and his hellish memories of the Japanese camps in Burma.

On the island, O'Hara has but two neighbors: the elderly Scottish misanthrope Angus McCleod and Bernie, a dying alcoholic. Life is isolated, simple, and predictable. When Bernie dies, however, he leaves his shack to Rosie Tretheway, a disillusioned doctor, and the sudden arrival of a woman in their remote locale upsets O'Hara's and Angus's hard-won equilibrium. In Sole Survivor Derek Hansen has crafted a story of love, friendship, and adventure as these three prickly characters learn first to get along and then to work together to save the island from the depredations of a commercial Japanese fishing trawler. And in O'Hara, Rosie, and Angus he has given the reader some people to really care about, even as they grow to care about each other. --Alix Wilber Amazon.com

[Jehret · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved this book. It was funny, romantic, exciting and a few other adjectives I can't think of right now. Set in the remote northern tip of the Great Barrier Island of the coast of New Zealand this story is some 20 years after WWII, and involves 3 main characters, 2 who cherish and protect their privacy in this very remote area. Angus a retired NZ policeman (from Scotland) and Red Ohara a war vet with some PSTD issues. Bernie another inhabitant of the island passes on and leaves his place to Rosie Trethewey the daughter of a doctor who took care of him years ago. Rosie welcomes the opportunity to begin a new life, her most recent job is doing research on a toilet cleaner, having been a doctor, pyschiatrist and few other professions along the way.

The boys are in for a surprise when Rosie intrudes upon their little private world. Rosie is a strong woman and is not put down by the attitudes of these two gentlemen.

I am going to read more by this author, hope I can find them in the library.

This book is too much fun to read, I wouldn't dare spoil it with spoilers. LOL... Enjoy!!!!

[Mary · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was a book that I made up my mind to stick to even though it seemed to drag in lots of places. I randomly picked it up at the library and thought it sounded like an interesting adventure story. It takes place in the wilds of New Zealand and concentrates on three characters, Angus, Red and Rosie. They are an unlikely group thrust together, all very independent people with their own way of doing things. Red has survived war in Burma and has adjusted by cutting himself off from the rest of the world. He and his dog Archie keep an eye on Bernie who has a place near them in Wreck Bay. When Bernie dies, he leaves his home to Rosie who decides to shed the big city life of Auckland to try and live in the country. She is not welcome, especially by Angus an ex-policeman.
Red is consumed with trying to protect the waters from a Japanese fleet who are poaching fish and tearing up the sea bottom. He becomes a spotter for the Royal Navy who are trying to police the area with few resources.

[Adi · Rating 5 out of 5]

It wasn't the writing (perfectly serviceable storytelling)nor the actual plots. It was the insight into the abuse of the New Zealand fishing industry by pirates (Japanese etc ships fishing illegally) and the difficulty in monitoring the coast line without the aid of volunteers. Coming from a family who have made careers in shipping on and off the water the story was poignant for me. Themes of loneliness contrasting with the need for solitude. Military vs private volunteers. Isolation whether on Great Barrier island or living in a busy city (Auckland).

[Kyra · Rating 4 out of 5]

I loved this book. Finally our tiny library washed up a gem. Set in New Zealand in the 1960's, this always engaging novel tells the story of an urban mid-30's woman named Rosie who inherits a dilapidated bach or cabin on an offshore island. Her two new neighbours both want her gone, but pigheaded Rosie hangs in there. There is a love story, a war story, and a suspenseful illegal fishing story - all tied together by a couple of the most likable male characters I have seen in ages. Suspense, subtle humour, and a great Border collie round out the edges. Yum.

[Betty · Rating 3 out of 5]

I liked the story and characters and would probably give it a 3+. I admit that I had a hard time imagining the place where they lived, how their houses were located in reference to each other.
The times in the boat in the rough seas when Red was trying to get close to the Japanese fishing boat was also hard to imagine how that really looked in relation the the shore and where they lived.
Some of the adventure in the rough seas was a little hard to take but otherwise I was facinated hearing about their daily life and how they lived in such an isolated place with very little.

[CynthiaA · Rating 3 out of 5]

I had a different impression of this book when I picked it up. Set on an isolated island off the coast of New Zealand, I thought it would be more about the challenges of surviving in such an isolated place. But it wasn't -- it was a bit of a romance - drama, with characters that have chosen to isolate themselves trying to live alongside a new resident who wants to be neighbourly. It was still a good book, pleasant, if not a tad predictable.

[Connie G · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved the characters in this novel situated in a remote part of New Zealand's Great Barrier Island. It's the story of three tough survivors whose food supply is threatened by the illegal fishing by a big Japanese trawler. This book has it all--ocean adventure, romance, humor, a great location, and history about the World War II POW camps in Burma. I definitely will look for another book by this author.

[Linda · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was the first Hansen book I read, and I loved it. The main character lives as a hermit on a remote island off New Zealand. This is a departure in the setting for Hansen who's other books are set in Europe. As a New Zealander it was great to read a well written historical/love/humorous/exciting plot set at home.
I'm glad I found this author, he never disappoints.

[Andy Smerdon · Rating 5 out of 5]

One of my top five books. The location of the novel is probably one of the most appealing things about this book - because I often like to imagine that I could live on a remote island ...... maybe it would need to have Internet access. Anyway I digress - the characters in the story are excellent. Derek Hansen has made them real for me and I would be happy to share an island with any of them.

[Sasha · Rating 5 out of 5]

An excellent summer holiday read while we travelled down the west coast of New Zealand. We love spending time at Great Barrier Island, and this book brought the island to life with its descriptions of the birds and wildlife, the hidden beaches, bays, rugged terrain and the people.

A brilliant book, that would make an excellent film I reckon!

[Deb · Rating 4 out of 5]

I got into this story right away and was sorry to have it end. Its a book that has been around for a while, but Hansen's theme is more relevent than ever. The characters are fascinating and memorable.