Remembering Love by Nadine Christian

I have a very distinct memory of my childhood. Video nights with my father. We would sit at home together on a Friday night with a rented video from the corner shop. The subject of one of these film nights was The Bounty, an adaptation of the true story of Fletcher Christian who leads a group of mutineers to take the ship from Captain Bligh before setting up a new population on Pitcairn Island. It was a film that captivated me as a child, from the ship, the ocean, and to the vision of Tahiti and the different culture of the islands.

So when I was offered an ARC for review that had been written by Nadine Christian, a descendant of the famous mutineer and a writer who still lives on the tiny volcanic island amongst a population that has never exceed 240 people, I jumped at the chance for an insight into this life with my adult eyes. In short, I wasn't disappointed.

The copy of Remembering Love that I read and for which this review is written is an advanced release e-book.

The story focuses on the life of Holly, a woman who grew up in a loving foster family far away from Pitcairn Island. After her foster parents die she discovers more about her past, and the fact that she herself is originally from Pitcairn Island.  But the more she digs, the more secrets are revealed, and she decides that she must travel to Pitcairn Island to trace her history and understand the tragic murder/suicide of her parents.

There was a lot that I liked about this book. The story is rich and interesting, and the plot develops in unexpected ways with satisfying resolutions to the twists that occur. The characters were also well developed and believable. I enjoyed the descriptive style of writing, and the sense of a small and at times claustrophobic community was well portrayed. It is also a nice gentle romance story, with only a bit of steam when it came to the sex scenes.

There were a few elements which I didn't fully connect with. Without any spoilers, there was a twist in the overall love story which I wasn't expecting, and I was glad to find that this particular element to the story was dealt with fairly quickly, as otherwise I wouldn't have enjoyed the rest of the book. There were one or two typos, which did nothing to prevent my enjoyment of the book, but may put off a fussy reader.  The dialect spoken on Pitcairn Island appears to be quite distinct, and at times I found the dialouge in the book difficult to follow, but on the plus side it did add a level of authenticity.

This was an enjoyable read, and I would recommend it to a lover of the romance genre, or anybody that wanted to get a glimpse into the life on Pitcairn Island.