Career
She is known for spending a year on the uninhabited island of Tuin and for her book, Castaway, describing the experience. Born in Whitton, London, Irvine had a tumultuous and free spirited adolescence, in which she replaced formal education with travel and adventure. She first ran away from school at twelve and had no full-time schooling after her thirteenth birthday.
Prior to writing Castaway, she had been employed as a charlady, monkey keeper, waitress, stonemason"s mate, life model, pastry cook, and concierge.