2008-10-04 Sheer froth

The Pirate's Daughter felt much like a roller coaster - impossible to get off once you're on but leaving you feeling dizzy, slightly sick and rather regretting spending so much time on it....

The plot starts off well enough - Errol Flyn's yacht washes up in Jamaica, he decides to stay, a beautiful young girl falls in love with him, has his baby, gets abandoned - so far, so summer blockbuster. Sadly, after a cracking start, the novel loses its way slightly. The action never lets up and it's got it all - poverty and politics, death and drugs, mistaken identity and heartbreaking love affairs in spades - but ultimately, one feels that the author is trying to do too much. There's so much going on that even the characters seem to be confused, with their actions rarely tallying with what you might have expected.

In short, it's worth a read, and it's great fun in parts. But if you want a coherent plot with strong characters who convince you of their motivation, then I'm afraid you're looking in the wrong place....