Books Like The Beach
Islands have long been a staple in literature and can range from exotic holiday destinations to remote places filled with danger. In many novels, the island setting plays just as crucial of a role as the characters that find themselves on the island. For example, The Beach by Alex Garland is set on an idyllic and isolated island in Thailand where a group of backpackers has made their home. Initially, the small community lives in harmony while trying to keep the island secret from outsiders. Still, the arrival of newcomers upsets this delicate balance, and things soon spiral out of control. For more novels where the island setting is integral to the storyline, check out the following books like The Beach.
The Disaster Tourist
by Yun Ko-Eun
The island featured in The Disaster Tourist by Yun Ko-Eun is Mui, one of the destinations on offer by a cutting-edge travel agency called Jungle. What sets Jungle apart from the competition is that they specialize in tourism destinations devastated by disaster and climate change. Unfortunately, Mui is one of their least profitable destinations, and Jungle wants to know why. To do so, they give one of their employees, Yona, a proposition. Yona was once a top representative of Jungle but ended up on the verge of losing her job, thanks to a predatory colleague. Her last hope is to take Jungle up on their offer and take a paid “vacation” to Mui while posing as a tourist in an attempt to assess what is happening. However, when she arrives, she discovers that the island is to be the target of an extravagant catastrophe that is being fabricated to make it more profitable for Jungle.
Stranded
by Emily Barr
Stranded is a 2012 novel by British travel writer and novelist Emily Barr. The story follows a woman named Esther who travels to the paradise island of Pulau Perhentian Kecil in Malaysia to escape her divorce and take some time off from motherhood. Esther believes that certain happiness awaits her on the island’s golden sand, palm trees, and clear water, and upon arrival, she is not disappointed. But, unfortunately, things take a turn for the worse when Esther meets some fellow travelers and decides to join them for a day trip to a deserted island. The group makes the journey on a fishing boat but ends up stranded on the island when their guide does not return. Since there is no way to leave without a boat, the group waits to be rescued, but suspicions and tension begin to set in amongst them.
Beauty Queens
by Libba Bray
Beauty Queen is the fifth novel by Libba Bray and is often described as a feminist take on Lord of the Flies. The story opens with a plane full of teen beauty pageant contestants crash-landing on a desert island. Miss Texas, Taylor Rene Krystal Hawkins, quickly steps up as the survivors’ leader and forces the rest of the girls to continue practicing for the pageant. However, life on the island is no joke, and the girls have to deal with everything from shelter and foot to the dangerous giant snakes roaming about. The situation becomes even direr when the girls discover that the island is not as deserted as they thought. From nefarious megacorps to secret arms deals, the girls have their hands full trying to survive on the island.
Angel Island
by Inez Haynes Gillmore
Angel Island is a science fiction/fantasy novel by Inez Haynes Irwin, first published in 1914. A new edition was reprinted in 1988 with an introduction by Ursula K. Le Guin, who praised it as a “real rediscovery.” The story is set on a deserted island where five men wash up after being shipwrecked in the South Seas. Although the men initially believe that they are alone on the island, they discover that it is also home to five beautiful women with wings like enormous scimitars who are capable of flying. The women are curious but wary of the men, who in turn fall in love with the women and hatch a plan to capture them. This sets off a chain of events that causes jealousy, deceit, and rebellion.
Bear Island
by Alistair MacLean
Bear Island by Alistair MacLean is a classic tale of adventure and death on a mysterious Arctic island. The setting is Bear Island, located well above the Arctic Circle, where a movie-making crew is headed onboard a converted fishing trawler for some on-location filming. However, the script is kept secret and is known only to the producer and screenwriter. Things begin to go wrong en route when both members of the movie crew and the ship’s company end up dying under mysterious circumstances. Marlowe, the crew’s doctor, attempts to unravel what is happening but discovers that very few of the people aboard the ship are really who they claim to be. Then, when the movie crew is left on Bear Island, far beyond the law’s reach or outside help, the murders continue.
Reckless Girls
by Rachel Hawkins
Reckless Girls by Rachel Hawkins is set on the beautiful, wild, and strange Meroe Island. This desolate spot in the middle of the Pacific Ocean has a mysterious history of shipwrecks, cannibalism, and even rumors of murder. Nevertheless, the island’s allure draws in six twentysomethings eager for sun-drenched days and intoxicating nights. However, the group quickly discovers that on Meroe Island, they are even more cut off from civilizations than they initially thought. Even worse, one person goes missing, and another turns up dead, leaving the others on a dangerous spiral of discovery.
