If you are looking for an engrossing read that ventures from England to Central Africa to Canada and then the South Pacific this is the book for you. Olivia Wyvern is in jail in Tahiti accused of murder. She passes the time by writing to the daughter she gave birth to when she was only 16 and gave up for adoption without even holding. The daughter has recently contacted the adoption authorities to say she would like to contact her birth mother. Olivia decides to write a lengthy history of herself and her family which necessarily requires an explanation of why she is in the South Pacific and how she came to be charged with murder.

Olivia is a film maker and lives in Vancouver but her mother recently died in England. Whilst (a word that is used frequently in this book) cleaning out her mother’s house she finds a package of writing by Frank Henderson, journals that he wrote around 1900 after a navy career that took him to the South Pacific and Africa. Frank’s journals alone would make a fascinating read. When combined with the story of Olivia’s father who disappeared during the Korean War while flying over the Pacific and Olivia’s own story of growing up fatherless and then falling prey to an older man who seduced her, the interspliced stories are mesmerizing. The final denouement weaves all the strands together but does not seem contrived.

I couldn’t understand why I had never heard of this book when it was published in 2000 but on the Amazon website I found a list of best Canadian fiction of 2001. With books like “The Life of Pi” and “Clara Callan” published at the same time I think I can be forgiven for overlooking this gem at the time. I’m just glad I was able to remedy this lapse. I can’t recommend this book highly enough. ( )

This is a wonderful book. There are two interconnected stories, both of which are compelling and interersting. Olivia Wyvern is a Canadian held in a Tahitian prision on a murder charge. While there, she receives a letter from the daughter she gave up for adoption 22 years earlier. One story is Olivia relating her life story to her daughter.

The other story is that of a distant relative, Frank Henderson, and takes place about a century earlier. Mr. Henderson served in the British Navy and is accompanying Queen Victoria`s grandsons on an educational voyage to, among other places, Tahiti. Olivia has found his diaries and is learning about his life, and that of her family.

Thiis is a very well written book, with beautiful images and strong main characters. ( )