Lost Paradise by Kathy Marks

I heard the author of this book interviewed on NPR and was so interested that I decided to take it out of the library. The book is about the Pitcairn Island, where the Mutiny on the Bounty crew settled. In the past ten years, a storm of sexual abuse accusations by adolescent and pre-adolescent girls on the island have erupted, and Marks' book covers the ensuing trials and fallout. Over time, the truth emerges - sexual abuse of young women by older men is a multi-generation problem within Pitcairn, tacitly accepted by men and women alike, hidden behind false morays of Polynesian promiscuity.

The first several chapters of the book relay Marks' experience as one of the six journalists credentialed to cover the trials on this island of just 50 people. In a community that small, journalists can hardly remain the outsiders who do not impact the story, so Marks does her best to report on her experiences as a visitor, describing both the efforts to reach the remote island as well as the lukewarm reception she and her coworkers received. Over the course of the book, she covers a history of the island, the events leading up to the trials, and the impact the trials have had on this tight-knit community.

It would be interesting to read a trained sociologist's view of the same events, although Marks' book was delightfully readable. She discusses themes of control and power - not just as they relate to sexual assault but in how they are used in the community. She also keeps revisiting the idea of "the myth of Pitcairn Island", thought to be an Polynesian idyll without any of the negative aspects that exist. Her openness to report on the critiques of her own coverage was commendable but didn't tone down her obvious (and seemingly justified) disgust with the treatment of the case: the accused men were charged and sentenced leniently, then returned back to society early, easily returning to their positions of power. Meanwhile, the accused women were ostracized by the community, including their families, and pressured into recanting.
Towards the end of the book, she explores all the categories of people in the community who let down generations of women by letting sexual abuse go unchecked. She also addresses several potential theories for the abuse, as well as other similar communities without this problem. I think she tries too hard to draw conclusions and make recommendations rather than just tell a story that speaks for itself. That said, I liked the book overall and continue to reflect on the story.