Foe by Coetzee, J.M.

In an engaging work of intricate metafiction, South African novelist J.M. Coetzee recreates the classic story of castaways Robinson Crusoe and Friday through two other voices, each with their own motives. Susan Barton washes onshore "Cruso" and Friday’s island, interrupting their pattern of survival by becoming Robinson’s companion and lover. Her return to London with the sad, mute Friday begins the process of recreating a world that was fiction to begin with. A compelling, succinct work, Foe explores the breach between story and storyteller, fable and fiction.