Treasure Islands

I came across this book when researching Robert Louis and I admit that at first, I was a little concerned at what it might contain - a frivolous search led by a curious rich girl with too much money, perhaps? Still, I thought, a search for Fanny and Louis can't be all THAT frivolous. And it was not. This is a well-written book that does not smack of over-editing; it seems to be the author's true voice coming through on all occasions, and she is worth listening to. Not only does she have a knack for happy and often original metaphor, but her sometimes gaudy descriptions of her exotic destinations almost always come off as well, and that adds spice to a competent text. All in all, it's very well done. What about the motives for the trip and how the author deals with the journey itself? Well, it seems obvious that only the very well-heeled could have undertaken such a voyage in the first place, and yet how many of the world's very rich (and the author would probably complain that she is not in that class anyway, though she must be close) ever get their boats out of harbour? So first up, I am impressed that a wealthy woman would get up the nerve to take on something like this and then also see it through. Of course, having plenty of cash helps, but no amount of the green stuff could ever prepare one for a) a sail across the Pacific and b) a lengthy visit to numerous small coral atolls and islands along the way. There is no doubt that it was an arduous journey and at the same time, we can see that it must have been equally arduous for the Stevensons more than 100 years earlier. The book contains a running commentary, usually from Fanny, about the places visited as the modern adventuress, if there is such a thing anymore, traces a very similar route. I was fascinated by the endless visits to very remote islands, for where Fanny and Louis went, Pamela had to go to. None of it was easy and some of it was downright dangerous and let's face it: very few people will ever have the chance to visit just one or two of these islands, let alone the incredible number this trip managed to tally up. So Pamela Stephenson has done a lot more than write a good book; she has taken us along with her and given us some very intimate detail about a part of the world that, dream as one might, it is unlikely we shall ever see for ourselves. Thoroughly worth reading, with very little negative to say about it at all, although some readers might want to be careful of the no doubt Billy Connolly-inspired inclusion of various conjugations of one of his favourite four-letter words!

This book was a total joy, having been obsessd with the saga of Fanny and Robert Louis Stevenson myself. Pamela Stephenson(no relation) buys a yacht and follows the exact passage of the south seas voyage of the Stevensons, with a full crew and her teenage daughter Scarlett. A book to treasure (no pun intended) and one I will dip into again and again, whenever I need feminine inspspiration. Go Pamela!