White Island

Written 2001 – 2002

Published 2023 by Haseltine Fabrics, launched at juncture exhibition, June 2026

Part of: The White Island Series

Tom’s life is in crisis.

Mix together the incendiary ingredients of drug addiction and a dysfunctional relationship with ‘friend’ Tim and you have a recipe for disaster.

What is the secret that Tim is hiding from Tom that involves their dodgy buddy Harry?

And how does the sudden reappearance, after an absence of several years, of ex-girlfriend Chrissie fit into this?

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White Island marked a decisive turning point in my writing. Unlike my earlier novels, which began with a seed plot or guiding idea, White Island was written using a strict form of the stream-of-consciousness process I call “streaming”. I began with nothing: no characters, no plot, no destination and no preconceived story. The only certainty was a belief that if I followed the process faithfully, something would emerge.

What emerged was White Island and, ultimately, an entire series of interconnected novels. Looking back, the book represents a leap of faith in intuition and imagination. It was the moment I stopped directing the story and allowed the story to reveal itself. Many of the themes that would occupy my later work — memory, identity, place, dream, coincidence and interconnected lives — first took shape here.

White Island became the foundation stone of what would later grow into the White Island Series and remains one of the most significant milestones in my development as a writer.

WHY WHITE ISLAND MATTERS

White Island is not merely the first novel in a series. It is the point at which the streaming method became fully operational. In the chronology of my work, it represents a major creative breakthrough. The earlier books established the foundations, but White Island was the moment the process was trusted completely. It is, in many ways, the literary equivalent of the Wright brothers leaving the ground. The earlier experiments remain essential, but White Island is where the machine finally flies.

FROM THE FLOWER MAN KINDLE INTRODUCTION (2014)

“It was only with the next work, White Island (2002) that I implemented the strict discipline of streaming: I set out on the writing process with nothing – no characters, no plot, no idea at all, just the belief that something would happen. And something did: The White Island Series.”

CRITICAL RECEPTION

“A psychological novel that leaves you breathless.”

— Literary Fiction Book Review, 2014

In 2014 White Island was independently reviewed by Literary Fiction Book Review, which praised the novel’s exploration of identity, consciousness and the multiplicity of self.

⚠ SPOILER ALERT

The reviewer was clearly enthusiastic and, in the process, gave away one of the book’s major surprises. If you haven’t yet read White Island, consider returning to this review afterwards.