Coconut Chaos: Pitcairn, Mutiny and a Seduction at Sea

This was strange book. The back cover says non-fiction, and yes there is a non-fiction element.

That is the known history of the mutineers from the Bounty, who ended up colonising the island of Pitcarin in the Pacific. This is the fairly well known story of First Mate Fletcher Christian, who in 1789 seized control and set Captain Bligh adrift with eighteen other men in a launch.
After the remaining crew split up, some remaining in Tahiti, others kidnapped a number of Tahitian women and men, and set off for an uninhabited island to make their own, settling on Pitcairn.

This story is told interspersed with a modern visit to Pitcairn, a place which is not regularly serviced by international transport, only infrequent shipping. At the time of this visit, Pitcairn was preparing for the trial of thirteen men (a third of the male population) on historic sex crimes. The island is divided on the matter, and most are reluctant to discuss it. Most of the population (47 at the time) are descended from the mutineers of the Bounty. Of course, the trail was not until 2004, so there was only discussion about the trial and the charges.

But here is the problem: the narrator of the book is assumed to be the author. The book is sold as non-fiction. In the afterword, the author advises that the story told by the narrator is fictionalised. The author states that she did visit the island, and travel in the method described, but that the character of the narrator is not the author. This also presumably explains the implausible Lady Myre character who accompanied her.

Mixed in along the way are some speculations about the history of the Bounty, hardly supported with any evidence, just sort of thrown out there, and a whole lot of lesbian goings on with the narrator.

For me, it was irritating to have been deceived with a fictionalised account of events, mixed with what was an ok historical summary of Bligh, Christian and the Bounty. The modern travel, even if true, would have offered little but as it is, offered less.

Historical summary: 4 stars
Travelogue: a fake 1 star
Accuracy: an untrustworthy 1 star (referring to “Auckland's Bay of Plenty”)
The descriptive journey to get there and away: 3 stars (I hope that part was real)
The information about the trial: 3 stars

Overall, disappointingly, 2.5 stars, rounded down.