Around the British Isles in 80 Island Books: Book 59 - An Island Parish: A Summer on Scilly

An Island Parish: A Summer on Scilly by Nigel Farrell - first published in 2008

This book was written by the director of the BBC TV series An Island Parish, which aired in 2008. I saw a couple of the episodes but not the whole series. The author spent the spring and summer of 2007 talking to some of the inhabitants of the Isles of Scilly and accompanying some of them as they went about their daily lives.

When I read the book I had recently returned from a holiday on the Isles of Scilly, so the places mentioned were familiar to me. The book is an engaging read but at times it felt too much like a fly on the wall documentary and I felt I was intruding into the private lives of the people featured e.g the new chaplain, vet and policewoman. Presumably they gave their consent to the filming and their inclusion in the book. The difference is that the film showed them at first hand while the book is the author's interpretation of their stories. The book shows clearly the fragility of island life at the mercy of the weather and political and economic decisions made in places far away.