Harper Perennial Olive Editions: Island

A utopian Pacific Ocean society is threatened by ruthless and greedy outside forces in Aldous Huxley’s final novel—a timely and relevant exploration of consciousness, humanism, fanaticism, and destruction—now available as a limited Olive Edition from Harper Perennial.

A provocative counterpoint to his worldwide classic Brave New World, Aldous Huxley's last novel introduces the Pacific island of Pala, home to a flourishing ideal society for 120 years. Aspiring to achieve a state of heightened consciousness, the islanders practice communal living, peacefully pursuing intellectual passions and spiritual meditation.

But the island’s bliss eventually attracts the envy of outsiders covetous of its natural resources, including its vast oil reserves. A devious plan to take over Pala is undertaken –but when a jaded newspaperman named Faranby orchestrates his own shipwreck on the island, as an agent for the conspirators, his experiences with its inhabitants unexpectedly revolutionize his values, and above all else, give him hope.