THE WHITE ISLAND

by John Lister Kaye

Book by Lister-Kaye, John

Genres: Biography, Scotland, Nature

178 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1972

Reviews

[Cora · Rating 5 out of 5]

This must be my favourite Sir John book, I do so love his style, his beautiful descriptions of nature around us. They always paint a vivid picture of the landscape. This book tells about his relationship with Gavin Maxwell, the man who has written the famous books about otters. He wanted to establish a zoo on this white island close to Skye. Sir John, then a young man, was one of his assistants and together they started their zoo adventure. This book tells it all, unfortunately Gavin Maxwell died before the zoo was finished. Sir John has written loads of nature books but because of this special story I love this the most.

I have met him while staying at Aigas, he is full of mischievous tricks and has a great sense of humour. If you haven’t read any of his books you have really missed out.

[Jimmy Lee · Rating 4 out of 5]

Providing more tantalizing insight into the life of Gavin Maxwell, Sir John's book describes their mutual efforts to develop a progressive zoo for British wildlife, and to co-author a book on the same topic.

With Maxwell in the hospital with what would be his last illness, and the violent weather (if not expense) impacting the potential zoo's remote location, the fate of both projects seem doomed from the beginning, and indeed such is the case. This book, however, is interesting to read and beautifully written from the perspective of an amateur building the skills to become highly proficient in later life. Lister-Kaye studies wildlife, occasionally interferes with the same; meanwhile he abandons day-to-day conventional life for more idyllic but primitive lifestyle.

The book provides details of Gavin Maxwell's final illness, as well as the disposition of the animals. The photos of characters from Maxwell's books - Teko, Jimmy, Donald, and Maxwell himself with Teko - are lovely to see, and the book provides an excellent window into Maxwell's compelling, if somewhat manic, support of the natural world.

[John Dodds · Rating 3 out of 5]

In 1969, young John Lister-Kaye went to live and work with author and naturalist Gavin Maxwell on his "White Island" (Eilean Ban) in Scotland. Sadly, shortly after Lister-Kaye's arrival, Maxwell died and their joint projects had to be abandoned.

The White Island is a memoir of Lister-Kaye's time on Maxwell's island. Worth reading if you are interested in Maxwell or Lister-Kaye (who now runs the Aigas nature centre in Scotland) or if you like animal stories.