Lucy Irvine describes the events that took place on the desert island of Tuin off the northern coast of Australia, between May 1981 and June 1982, when she and Gerald Kingsland tried to make their desert island dream a reality The story is complicated by several issues, perhaps the most bizarre of which was that they had to marry to be allowed together on the island Thus there is an emotional theme underlying the narrative of their return to a primitive life-style