For twenty years, Samuel has been living in the lighthouse on a small island in Africa. He rarely sees people, while the sea often washes ashore the bodies of drowned migrants.

One day, he spots a shipwreck survivor who is still breathing. He saves him, despite all his hesitations and fears that the stranger might be dangerous. They don’t speak the same language, but as they try to communicate, they come closer together.

The presence of the foreigner brings painful memories to Samuel from the years of colonialism, of revolutionaries who turned into dictators, and of his own relationship with the regime. By taking care of the shipwreck survivor, he has the chance to free himself from his own dark past.

With The Island, Karen Jennings (South Africa, 1982) became internationally known and was nominated for the Booker Prize.