Remarkable story of a great British eccentric, Marion Carstairs who found fame in the 1920s as the leading British powerboat racer and regular rival of the famed Gar Wood - she was the "Fastest Woman on Water" he the "Fastest Man.." Her exploits were financed by a sizable family interest in the fabulously successful Standard Oil Co.(founded by J D Rockefeller). Aside from boats she was a prominent motorist and famous cross-dresser who liked to be called "Joe", and had an affair with a strig of famous women including Marlene Dietrich. Later she bought her own Island (hence the title) living there in opulent seclusion , ruling it's 500 inhabitants like a benevolent feudal baron until moving to Florida in the 1970s. She died there in 1993. 241 pages. Very. Good condition book, it's been read and the jacket has some minor shelf wear