The second book Ive read on Pitcairn Island, but if you read this and Paradise Lost, read this book first. The author lives among the 40 or so (the number is declining) Pitcairn islanders, managing, through research and serendipity, to pry apart exotic legend from reality.
In the process, she finds that outer expressions of warmth and welcome by the islanders actually conceal a secretive, paranoid community. If you follow this book by reading Paradise Lost, you discover more about serpent lurking among them.