Yr Ynys Unyg; or, The lonely island: A Narrative for Young People

About this book

Yr Ynys Unyg; or, The Lonely Island is a juvenile adventure that begins with a framed letter from a friend who hands over a manuscript, warning that the living names must be altered. The opening pages devote themselves to an exhaustive roll‑call of the party: a stout, horse‑loving mother, her spirited sisters, a precocious twelve‑year‑old named Gatty, and a troupe of children whose ages and temperaments are sketched in vivid detail. After this inventory the narrative launches into Chapter I, describing the departure of the elegant yacht La Luna on a bright May morning, the mixed company of women, children and a few male attendants, and the hopeful yet uneasy feelings that accompany the voyage across the Atlantic. The story is set up as a voyage and travel tale that will inevitably lead to shipwreck and castaway episodes, as promised by its catalogue subjects.

The prose reflects a late‑Victorian sensibility, with long, flowing sentences, elaborate character portraits, and a narrator who interjects personal reflections on duty, health and moral purpose. The tone is earnest and slightly sentimental, offering a window onto 19th‑century attitudes toward travel, education and family. Readers who enjoy richly detailed period fiction, especially those interested in historical youth adventure narratives and the romantic notion of a sea journey turning into an isolated island experience, will find this work engaging.

Opening lines

I enclose you the manuscript of which you have so long desired possession. You have permission to do what you like with it, on one condition, which is, that you alter all the names, and expunge anything like personality therein; for, as you are aware (with two exceptions) each character mentioned in the story is now alive, and so few years have elapsed since the events recorded took place that it would not be at all difficult for a stranger to recognize the heroes and heroines therein mentioned. Having settled that business, I now proceed to say, that as the narrative begins very abruptly, you will find it necessary to have some little personal account of the parties concerned, which I will lose no time in giving you. …

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