I've been reading White Ginger over the last week. There's been a lot going on in my life and so I've enjoyed the opportunity to skip away for chapters at a time and lose myself in Hawaii with Amelie and Arne. White Ginger is a book that quickly sweeps a reader back up in the moment.
It is a particularly tactile reading experience with Ms Bellamy's wonderful descriptions of colour and scent in Hawaii, and of reefs and lagoons and beaches and gardens and volcanos and flowers... the heroine, Amelie, is a painter and fashion designer what's more, so it feels perfectly appropriate to get caught up in the rich landscape of Hawaii through her eyes. (Please don't get me wrong - there is just the right amount of description for such an exotic setting - certainly not too much!)
At times, this becomes almost a romantic suspense story, as Amelie and Arne both find their lives and property threatened by a sinister force linked to a Developer in their town who wants to build a marina near a world-class reef. (Sounds very familiar for us Aussies who are always looking out for our Great Barrier Reef on the East Coast, and the Gnaraloo Reef on the West Coast.)
I thoroughly enjoyed it. It's a lovely sweet romance but the sensual scenes are really well drawn... leaving us wishing these two would get all their insecurities behind them and just leap into the nearest bed... or beach... or boat!
Thank you very much Ms Bellamy. I loved it!