She repeatedly ran away from school and from home, maintaining this was not "because I was discontented, but because I found it interesting", and claiming "Not belonging to any particular group, I was free to observe.
[1] Before writing Castaway, she had been employed as a charwoman, monkey keeper, waitress, stonemason's mate, life model, pastry cook, concierge, and Inland Revenue clerk.
[2] In 1981, Irvine responded to an advert placed by writer Gerald Kingsland and they became intentional castaways for a year on the isolated and uninhabited island of Tuin, in the Torres Strait between New Guinea and Australia.
[1] According to Irvine, the film, directed by Nicolas Roeg, is more about the relationship between an older man and a young woman than it is about her experiences on the island.
In 1947, the two British expatriates had set sail from England and embarked upon a hazardous journey in search of a faraway paradise where they could raise a family.
[7] In 1984, Irvine bought the isolated cottage Rumachroy, near Nairn in Scotland, where, most of the time as a single mother, she raised her three sons.