Stranded is the twisty psychological thriller debut from author Sarah Goodwin, and tells the story of eight people who arrive on a remote Island, ready for the challenge of a lifetime: to live alone for one year. Eighteen months later, a woman is found in an isolated fishing village. She’s desperate to explain what happened to her: how the group fractured and friends became enemies; how they did what they must to survive until the boat came to collect them; how things turned deadly when the boat didn’t come. Maddy must come to terms with the devastating secret that left them stranded, and her own role in the events that saw eight arrive and only three leave.
It's an amazing story. I felt in a state of dread and high alert for a good part of the book, The tempo gets faster and faster as the story progresses and it’s genuinely very hard to put down. The writing was just so gripping and entertaining throughout, so of course I'm delighted to be able to share with you my recent conversation with the author herself!
It's an amazing story. I felt in a state of dread and high alert for a good part of the book, The tempo gets faster and faster as the story progresses and it’s genuinely very hard to put down. The writing was just so gripping and entertaining throughout, so of course I'm delighted to be able to share with you my recent conversation with the author herself!
Hi Sarah! Thank you so much for taking the time to answer some questions. Let me start by saying how much I loved your book. I simply couldn’t put it down!
Goodwin: Thank you so much! That’s great to hear and thank you for getting it touch to ask about the book!)
What is your writing process like and how do you put together your first draft?
Goodwin: I’m a ‘pantser’ so I don’t plan anything about the book before I start really. For ‘Stranded’ I had the idea that they would be on an island and at the mid-point would realise they were stuck there. Everything else, all the sub-plots and even the characters, came into existence as I was writing and through the editing process.
It takes me around three months to write a first draft and I usually try and write at least a thousand words a day when I’m working on it. Sometimes more, or a tiny bit less. I work in the mornings and have the afternoon free for reading, gaming or dealing with social media.
Maddy is such a complex and strong woman despite the many challenges she faces on the island. What was the inspiration for her character?
Goodwin: Maddy is slightly based on me and experiences I’ve had. For example, being bullied at school, living in a rural and very sheltered area, finding it hard to stick up for myself. I turned some of those things to be very negative and extreme. In other ways she’s what I want to be – strong and brave and resourceful. I wanted her to be a good ‘revenge’ character, someone who gets the upper hand by the end of the book.
Duncan was an incredibly frustrating principal antagonist. If the book was adapted into a film or Tv series, who would you pick to play him onscreen?
Goodwin: I hate Duncan so much! He was just, such a grab bag of characteristics I dislike. I think he’d be great played by someone like Rafe Spall, he can do that antagonistic, slightly smug but still charming thing really well.
The story is told in alternating timelines - on the island and in a TV interview with Maddy after the event. Which chapters did you find the most challenging to write?
Goodwin: The most difficult were the present day chapters after they arrive but before things really kick off. Trying to keep the pace without giving too much away or slowing down too much was very tricky. Comparatively the flash-forwards and the flashbacks were a lot easier to write. The chapters which show Maddy after the island were a fairly late addition to the book, and so were simpler to write because I already knew what had happened.
Did you watch any reality shows to observe how strangers cope with stressful situations together?
Goodwin: I quite like survival TV, things like Castaway 2000 and Eden, or where people have to live by the constraints of a historic period. Some of that was an inspiration but mostly it was observations I had at school and at work in offices. If you want to watch people really get stressed out and interact in a closed environment, head to an office building. All kinds of strange stuff goes on there.
The personalities of the islanders change and adapt throughout the book. Which characters do you think have the most interesting growth?
Goodwin: Aside from Maddy I think Zoe has the most interesting growth. Although it’s not growth so much as the opposite. Zoe goes from being a very modern young woman, educated, enterprising and independent, to being totally reliant on her boyfriend for protection, saddled with a dangerous pregnancy and viewed as second-class. Yet at the same time she matures and becomes less infantilised as she fights for her place in the community, she has to grow up beyond her years. Her experience is a turning back of the clock which we’re seeing a lot in real life, on women’s rights.
The research that must have gone into this book is huge. The botanical knowledge, the psychology of group dynamics, persuasion, and influence. Were there any rabbit holes you fell into while researching?
Goodwin: Most of my research was on foraging. I had a whole day where I just made a calendar of what food is available when, overlapping forests, beaches and the sea to work out what they’d be able to cook. Plus all the different things are used in separate ways and prepared differently. It’s something I’ve always been quite interested in. The mushrooms in particular, all the poisonous ones and their symptoms and side effects. That got far too interesting to me!
I loved the idea of a mysterious witch living on the island and being feared by the local fisherman. What are your thoughts on witchcraft?
Goodwin: I find witchcraft very interesting. I’m a practicing witch and have been since I was in my teens. For me it represents female power (though anyone can be a witch) as well as the powers of nature to be both kind and cruel. When people are put in these primitive situations they create rituals or belief systems without consciously trying, just as a way to order the chaos.
Typically witchcraft has also been an excuse to hound the less popular and least fortunate, making them the scapegoats in times of crisis. The idea that witches are seen as both powerful and yet powerless to fight back, really inspired the events in Maddy’s story.
If you were bound to be stuck on a desert island for the rest of your life, and you could only take three books with you, what would they be?
Goodwin: Oh my God, that’s hard. I don’t really re-read many books. There are too many new ones! I’d need a survival guide and then I suppose a really long novel, like ‘The Physician’ by Noah Gordon and finally…. ‘Cat’s Eye’ by Margaret Atwood. I’ve read that novel so many times since I was about 13 and could read it many many more.
Finally, what are you working on next? I know Stranded has only just been released, but I’m already eager for more! Can we expect another novel from you?
Goodwin: I am contracted for one more novel with Avon, and I’ve already written the first draft. I can’t say too much about it because it’s still being worked on, but broadly speaking, it’s about a woman who escapes a cult as a child, but is then targeted in later life when her secret is shared on the news. It’s quite different in terms of setting to ‘Stranded’ but it still has those twists and psychological elements.
Goodwin: Thank you so much! That’s great to hear and thank you for getting it touch to ask about the book!)
What is your writing process like and how do you put together your first draft?
Goodwin: I’m a ‘pantser’ so I don’t plan anything about the book before I start really. For ‘Stranded’ I had the idea that they would be on an island and at the mid-point would realise they were stuck there. Everything else, all the sub-plots and even the characters, came into existence as I was writing and through the editing process.
It takes me around three months to write a first draft and I usually try and write at least a thousand words a day when I’m working on it. Sometimes more, or a tiny bit less. I work in the mornings and have the afternoon free for reading, gaming or dealing with social media.
Maddy is such a complex and strong woman despite the many challenges she faces on the island. What was the inspiration for her character?
Goodwin: Maddy is slightly based on me and experiences I’ve had. For example, being bullied at school, living in a rural and very sheltered area, finding it hard to stick up for myself. I turned some of those things to be very negative and extreme. In other ways she’s what I want to be – strong and brave and resourceful. I wanted her to be a good ‘revenge’ character, someone who gets the upper hand by the end of the book.
Duncan was an incredibly frustrating principal antagonist. If the book was adapted into a film or Tv series, who would you pick to play him onscreen?
Goodwin: I hate Duncan so much! He was just, such a grab bag of characteristics I dislike. I think he’d be great played by someone like Rafe Spall, he can do that antagonistic, slightly smug but still charming thing really well.
The story is told in alternating timelines - on the island and in a TV interview with Maddy after the event. Which chapters did you find the most challenging to write?
Goodwin: The most difficult were the present day chapters after they arrive but before things really kick off. Trying to keep the pace without giving too much away or slowing down too much was very tricky. Comparatively the flash-forwards and the flashbacks were a lot easier to write. The chapters which show Maddy after the island were a fairly late addition to the book, and so were simpler to write because I already knew what had happened.
Did you watch any reality shows to observe how strangers cope with stressful situations together?
Goodwin: I quite like survival TV, things like Castaway 2000 and Eden, or where people have to live by the constraints of a historic period. Some of that was an inspiration but mostly it was observations I had at school and at work in offices. If you want to watch people really get stressed out and interact in a closed environment, head to an office building. All kinds of strange stuff goes on there.
The personalities of the islanders change and adapt throughout the book. Which characters do you think have the most interesting growth?
Goodwin: Aside from Maddy I think Zoe has the most interesting growth. Although it’s not growth so much as the opposite. Zoe goes from being a very modern young woman, educated, enterprising and independent, to being totally reliant on her boyfriend for protection, saddled with a dangerous pregnancy and viewed as second-class. Yet at the same time she matures and becomes less infantilised as she fights for her place in the community, she has to grow up beyond her years. Her experience is a turning back of the clock which we’re seeing a lot in real life, on women’s rights.
The research that must have gone into this book is huge. The botanical knowledge, the psychology of group dynamics, persuasion, and influence. Were there any rabbit holes you fell into while researching?
Goodwin: Most of my research was on foraging. I had a whole day where I just made a calendar of what food is available when, overlapping forests, beaches and the sea to work out what they’d be able to cook. Plus all the different things are used in separate ways and prepared differently. It’s something I’ve always been quite interested in. The mushrooms in particular, all the poisonous ones and their symptoms and side effects. That got far too interesting to me!
I loved the idea of a mysterious witch living on the island and being feared by the local fisherman. What are your thoughts on witchcraft?
Goodwin: I find witchcraft very interesting. I’m a practicing witch and have been since I was in my teens. For me it represents female power (though anyone can be a witch) as well as the powers of nature to be both kind and cruel. When people are put in these primitive situations they create rituals or belief systems without consciously trying, just as a way to order the chaos.
Typically witchcraft has also been an excuse to hound the less popular and least fortunate, making them the scapegoats in times of crisis. The idea that witches are seen as both powerful and yet powerless to fight back, really inspired the events in Maddy’s story.
If you were bound to be stuck on a desert island for the rest of your life, and you could only take three books with you, what would they be?
Goodwin: Oh my God, that’s hard. I don’t really re-read many books. There are too many new ones! I’d need a survival guide and then I suppose a really long novel, like ‘The Physician’ by Noah Gordon and finally…. ‘Cat’s Eye’ by Margaret Atwood. I’ve read that novel so many times since I was about 13 and could read it many many more.
Finally, what are you working on next? I know Stranded has only just been released, but I’m already eager for more! Can we expect another novel from you?
Goodwin: I am contracted for one more novel with Avon, and I’ve already written the first draft. I can’t say too much about it because it’s still being worked on, but broadly speaking, it’s about a woman who escapes a cult as a child, but is then targeted in later life when her secret is shared on the news. It’s quite different in terms of setting to ‘Stranded’ but it still has those twists and psychological elements.
Thank you again to Sarah for being so approachable and kindly speaking with me about her writing. Goodwin's novel really is a wonderfully gripping, twisty page-turner about secrets, lies and survival at all costs.
I highly recommend making this your next read. Click the image below to order a copy from my store right now!
I highly recommend making this your next read. Click the image below to order a copy from my store right now!