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Moloka'i: A Novel
Ikhtisar
Young Rachel Kalama, growing up in idyllic Honolulu in the 1890s, is part of a big, loving Hawaiian family, and dreams of seeing the far-off lands that her father, a merchant seaman, often visits. But at the age of seven, Rachel and her dreams are shattered by the discovery that she has leprosy. Forcibly removed from her family, she is sent to Kalaupapa, the isolated leper colony on the island of Moloka'i.
In her exile she finds a family of friends to replace the family she's lost: a native healer, Haleola, who becomes her adopted "auntie" and makes Rachel aware of the rich culture and mythology of her people; Sister Mary Catherine Voorhies, one of the Franciscan sisters who care for young girls at Kalaupapa; and the beautiful, worldly Leilani, who harbors a surprising secret. At Kalaupapa she also meets the man she will one day marry.
True to historical accounts, Moloka'i is the story of an extraordinary human drama, the full scope and pathos of which has never been told before in fiction. But Rachel's life, though shadowed by disease, isolation, and tragedy, is also one of joy, courage, and dignity. This is a story about life, not death; hope, not despair. It is not about the failings of flesh, but the strength of the human spirit.
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The booked seemed to be well researched, I have to say that I did not like the way the story jumped in time and characters. A chapter would end with our main character, Rachel at age 7 and the next thing you know she is 17 with a whole new group of characters around her. Then she is in her 20's surrounded by another group.
If you need a good cry, then this is the book for you. Be prepared, there is a lot of death in this book. I cried through the entire book. there were some funny moments that made me smile, however, this is another example of how ignorant the medical community were in treating this disease...
If you need a good cry, then this is the book for you. Be prepared, there is a lot of death in this book. I cried through the entire book. there were some funny moments that made me smile, however, this is another example of how ignorant the medical community were in treating this disease...
This is a beautifully written novel about a young girl taken away from her family at 7 years old and shipped off to Moloka'i - the leprosy quarantine island in Hawaii. Despite the sadness of the situation, this story is a hopeful representation of the way community and family was created among Moloka'i's inhabitants. It did, however, try a little too hard in representing every potential community and cultural challenge: familial isolation and resulting divorce, sexual abuse, transsexual best friend, racial discrimination, question of faith, suicide, domestic violence, forced adoption, Japanese internment, ... it could have been a shorter book with less of this and been just as effective. However, it was so beautifully written, all of this just means more to enjoy. The first half reminded me of The Pearl Diver.
What I read seemed superficial, unrealistic, and tinny. The placement of hawaiian words felt forced and should have been omitted. The story was not compelling and the only reason I read what I did was because it was assigned for school as a "light read" to do a book report on but I couldn't take another word. Not appropriate for younger readers. My apologies to the author.
This work of historical fiction spans the years 1891 to 1970, and centres on a native Hawaiian girl who contracts Hansen's disease (aka leprosy) and grows up in quarantine on the island of Moloka'i.I've wanted to learn more about the lepers of Moloka'i since I learned about them many years ago. Unfortunately, and despite the obvious extensive research the author did, this book fell flat for me. My biggest complaint that Moloka'i is one of those too-common historical novels where the characters are distinctly 21st century Americans dressed up in historical and cultural costumes. Furthermore, the author didn't engage me in their lives. I was bored throughout the almost 400 pages.
This historical novel is set in and around Hawaii's leper colony on Molokai. The characters are compelling and the background seems well-researched.
More sad than happy.
Loved this book.
Intriguing epic of pre-tourism Hawaii. Characters talented brought life. Second half measurably better than the first.
I picked up Alan Brennert's novel Moloka'i because... I love Hawaii. But it is not about the Hawaiian island so much as about the history of an isolated peninsula, Kalaupapa told through the voice of Rachel Kalama. In 1892, at the age of 7 the little Hawaiian girl is diagnosed with leprosy - a disease Hawaiians are susceptible to - taken from her family and sent to the quarantine settlement of Kalaupapa. Tragic and yet as Rachel grows to womanhood she makes friends and a life for herself in spite of hardships.
The memorable characters transcend isolation and ostracism. Ohana, family, is a recurring theme as the residents make their own family connections. A beautifully written and engrossing story that needed to be told.
The memorable characters transcend isolation and ostracism. Ohana, family, is a recurring theme as the residents make their own family connections. A beautifully written and engrossing story that needed to be told.
I took this book with me on our family vacation to Hawai'i. Since I have a Navy family, we stayed in O'ahu in a cabin right on the beach at Bellows Air Force Base. I went to sleep every night, woke every morning, and spent the day listening to the loudness of the waves that did not have to compete with traffic, luxury resort hotels, and the people common at Waikiki. (We found only fascination at the great thumping of the few Marine helicopters on maneuvers every other day). Our Bellows beach cabin was the perfect location to read about an old O'ahu that did not know development and to imagine Moloka'i and the leper colony of Kalaupapa.
Moloka'i is a bittersweet story. I don't know that it could be any different in a story about leprosy. Hawai'ians had no immunity against the disease, like many other diseases brought to the islands by colonists. The only treatment known 1891 was to sequester, no, imprison those afflicted. That is how the colony of Kalupapa was formed: the colonial government shipped those afflicted to the island of Moloka'i and left them there with no food or shelter, envisioning they would do nothing but die. Many did die, but leprosy attacks people differently with some living many, many years before succumbing. Leprosy is also thought of as an adult disease, though many Hawai'ian children contracted it. These children were taken from their families. It was the missionaries, the priests and nuns, who started homes to care for, and too many times become the families of, the children with leprosy abandoned by their government and families. Rachel, the story's heroine (and I prefer to call her a heroine), is such a child. The story takes us through her life starting at six years old (1891) when she contracts the disease through to her death (1970). Does Rachel ever get cured, leave the island, find a life? That is for you to read and discover. Moloka'i is a story of Rachel, her community, and her family finding life, hope, courage, beauty, and thankfulness in the reality of banishment and disease. The twists and turns will make you cry with joy as well as sadness.
I will say this is an incredible story that touched me deeply because I am facing my own transition. I completed my studies, successfully defended my doctorate, and now I am looking for a job. I am "banished" from my university by a piece of paper saying I graduated, now staying with my family while the job search is underway. Everything I own fit into my car and is now stuffed into one bedroom. I am facing a new beginning full of many unknowns. I am scared. This book let me understand that I am where I need to be right now, and I will be where I need to be tomorrow. It is up to me to keep pushing forward, feeling troubled and sad when I need to feel it, but finding hope within the present. It's a new life everyday. We invent the lives we live by facing our constraints as we create our futures.
Moloka'i is a bittersweet story. I don't know that it could be any different in a story about leprosy. Hawai'ians had no immunity against the disease, like many other diseases brought to the islands by colonists. The only treatment known 1891 was to sequester, no, imprison those afflicted. That is how the colony of Kalupapa was formed: the colonial government shipped those afflicted to the island of Moloka'i and left them there with no food or shelter, envisioning they would do nothing but die. Many did die, but leprosy attacks people differently with some living many, many years before succumbing. Leprosy is also thought of as an adult disease, though many Hawai'ian children contracted it. These children were taken from their families. It was the missionaries, the priests and nuns, who started homes to care for, and too many times become the families of, the children with leprosy abandoned by their government and families. Rachel, the story's heroine (and I prefer to call her a heroine), is such a child. The story takes us through her life starting at six years old (1891) when she contracts the disease through to her death (1970). Does Rachel ever get cured, leave the island, find a life? That is for you to read and discover. Moloka'i is a story of Rachel, her community, and her family finding life, hope, courage, beauty, and thankfulness in the reality of banishment and disease. The twists and turns will make you cry with joy as well as sadness.
I will say this is an incredible story that touched me deeply because I am facing my own transition. I completed my studies, successfully defended my doctorate, and now I am looking for a job. I am "banished" from my university by a piece of paper saying I graduated, now staying with my family while the job search is underway. Everything I own fit into my car and is now stuffed into one bedroom. I am facing a new beginning full of many unknowns. I am scared. This book let me understand that I am where I need to be right now, and I will be where I need to be tomorrow. It is up to me to keep pushing forward, feeling troubled and sad when I need to feel it, but finding hope within the present. It's a new life everyday. We invent the lives we live by facing our constraints as we create our futures.
Loved this book! It kept me awake at night learning as I read. At one time it was thought that leprosy was a form of venereal disease, the health inspector was paid extra for each potential leper he rounded up, when a member of a Japanese family contracted leprosy he disgraced his family and entire lineage for all time, and that even after they were cured the former residents of Moloka'i were treated very badly if they tried to return to everyday society. Rachel is cured after spending 50 years of her life on Moloka'i. When she returns to Honolulu she's looking for the family she was torn from and familiar places. The one sentence that grabbed me was when she went back to her old home, "And she grieved to realize that the home she had so loved existed now only in memory, as distant and insubstantial as the kingdom in which she'd been born". Sniffle. Beautifully written
This book, just like the postcard will remain with me..written on a sensitive subject, it deals with the life of a girl diagnosed with leprosy and her journey. I was moved to tears!
Excellent and beautiful read. I found myself longing to know more about Rachel and her life. Very excited for the follow up to come out!
A family saga, a love story, a glimpse into history and medicine.... Fascinating look at the treatment of people with leprosy before WWII in Hawaii.
It was easy reading, despite the subject matter. Bennett writes flowing prose. I also thought it wa# a rich learning experience
Fascinating story, but the writing and characterization border on cheesy.
This was a reread for me because it has been years since I read this book the first time, and I want to read Daughter of Moloka'i when it comes out in February 2019. I enjoyed this just as much as the first time. Hawaiians are sent against their will to the leper colony on Moloka'i, mostly just to die. This story has much history behind it, so terribly sad, but it also has a great storyline, following Rachel, who developed red patches on her skin. The characters were engaging, and I cared about them. There was such a stigma and a fear, partly because of the Bible, to what was then called leprosy and is now called Hansen's disease. In part, the name change was to prevent the stigma of these “unclean,” “dirty” victims of the disease. And of course, when outsiders bring a new disease to indigenous people, the indigenous people have built up no resistance. This is a great book for those who like their novels with a bit of history, and those who like their history in a novel form.
When I started Moloka’i, the only thing I knew about it was that it was consistently popular when I worked at a book store. I picked it up a few months ago at a thrift store for 99 cents thinking ‘can’t go wrong with this price’.I rarely read books like this. By ‘this’ I mean regular, popular fiction with no genre theme attached. I have always drifted towards the alternatives - science fiction, horror, sometimes fantasy. I’ve also loved classic literature since I picked up my first Dickens. But modern fiction has never really been my jam. And it’s interesting to note that on the few times I do pick up one, like in the case of Moloka’i, I am utterly blown away and find myself falling deeply in love.I am usually always skeptical of a man writing a girl’s or woman’s journey, and so when I realized this was going to be Rachel Kalama’s life journey written by a white, American man, my skepticism was working overtime. Brennert writes Rachel with such a clarity and such an understanding of love and loss that it’s hard to believe he didn’t know the (fictional) woman personally. I guess he did, though, I mean she was born inside of his head.Rachel’s character development is so strong and so tight that you don’t even miss the chunks of years of her life that Brennert skips over. It is clear from her voice and attitude exactly what those years held for her and you never feel like you’ve missed out. With each chapter and cluster of years of her experience, you feel more and more like you know Rachel almost as intimately as you know yourself and, in turn, you feel her hopes and her losses almost as deeply as she.Rachel Aouli Kalama Utagawa has earned her way into my favorite all-time characters of literature.
By-the-numbers ‘exotic’ historical fiction about the leper colony on the Hawaiian island of Moloka‘i at the end of the nineteenth century. The language is an ungainly mixture of anachronistic modernisms (‘she gave him the stink-eye’), boring clichés (‘harsh glare’, ‘warm glow’), and metaphorical flourishes that fall flat (‘Dorothy felt something wet fall on her leg, unexpected as a drop of rain on a sunny day’). Brennert is a veteran screenwriter for shows like L.A. Law, and much of the dialogue here performs the sort of brisk exposition that is acceptable in a well-directed TV film but which feels rather artless and clumsy in running prose. I'm sounding overly harsh here – the book isn't offensively bad, and people who generally enjoy this kind of novel will definitely get more enjoyment out of this one than I did. Brennert has done his research, I'll say that, but in my case I quickly realised that I'd rather be reading the books in the bibliography than the novel he turned them into; I bailed after a hundred pages, which is pretty unusual for me.
Moloka'i by Alan Brennert was a novel about old Hawaii that relied on historical accounts of the renowned leper colony of Kalaupapa, as well as historical accounts of the Japanese-American internment experience along the West Coast of the mainland. For me, it was like a walk down memory lane, as the street names mentioned in the Honolulu scenes were familiar streets that I traversed in my youth. Bits of Hawaiian culture permeated throughout the story, and I felt transported back to the islands, although I was never privileged to visit the island of Moloka'i. In reading the acknowledgements at the end of the novel, it was ironic to me that my mother’s dear friend, Mary Pukui, was cited as a resource through the Hawaiian language dictionary which she authored. I also found it interesting that the novel states that the Hansen’s Disease bacterium is similar to the bacteria which causes tuberculosis. As a high school student, I recall that my grandmother, while visiting my aunt and uncle on the Big Island, was thought to have bladder cancer, as well as leprosy. A short time later, the diagnosis was reversed, and the leprosy was diagnosed to be tuberculosis instead, and she spent several months in Leahi Hospital on Oahu to recuperate before returning home. Possibly because of the similarity of the two diseases, a misdiagnosis occurred. Perhaps the doctors were unaware that my grandfather passed away from tuberculosis over twenty years prior, and the tuberculosis bacteria may have been dormant for all those years. I was riveted to much of the history of this story and to the unfortunate circumstances of the people banished to Kalaupapa during a time when medical knowledge and the treatment of Hansen’s Disease was virtually non-existent.
Not depressing! I don't usually read historical fiction but I'm glad a group here prompted me to read this. I don't know how to evaluate except to say I learned a lot; it was smooth reading, lovely and clear and well-paced; and there were a lot of interesting characters.
I am thankful that, by the time our heroine got to the island, the community was starting to grow, the Sisters were nursing the patients, and the conditions weren't as miserable in the early decades.
I can say the characters weren't *quite* rich & complex enough for my taste - there was a bit of a feeling that they were not real people, but were filling roles. I imagine that's something common to much historical fiction though, as the author needs to try to both tell the recorded truth and tell a story.
I am thankful that, by the time our heroine got to the island, the community was starting to grow, the Sisters were nursing the patients, and the conditions weren't as miserable in the early decades.
I can say the characters weren't *quite* rich & complex enough for my taste - there was a bit of a feeling that they were not real people, but were filling roles. I imagine that's something common to much historical fiction though, as the author needs to try to both tell the recorded truth and tell a story.
This book reminds me a little of Michener's Hawaii. While it doesn't,t have the breadth of Michener's work, the depth it provides about the leper colony is astonishing. I wish I had read this book before I had visited Moloka'i. Brennert has done in-depth research in the story about Rachel Kalama who was sent to the leper colony as a child. By focusing on her and creating a character that encompasses the experiences of many, he's created a very readable book. If nothing else the reader comes away with a sense of the continuing miracle of medicine and how antibiotics were the miracle that has cured leprosy.
This is a tale of one woman's life from her childhood through her old age and the realities of having being diagnosed with leprosy at a young age. The story takes place in Hawaii starting in the late 1800s. I really enjoyed this book, but there were times when the book was really slow and I found myself wondering why the author hadn't just ended the book at the last crisis. Then something new would happen, and I would find myself engrossed in her life again. I enjoyed the historical aspects of understanding about leprosy within the Hawaiian people and their policy of segregation. The stigma must have been horrifying! I enjoyed the characters that Alan Brennert created! The resolution of all my questions about family was gratifying - from the adopted daughter, to her immediate family, to her Moloka'i family.
This is the amazing story of Rachel Kalama, a girl who is put into a leper colony on the island of Moloka'i and her years there. This book will take you on a emotional roller coaster, leaving you laughing and crying (this books seriously made me shed some tears). But this isn't just her story, this is the story of those around her and the changes through the years (to both people and the world). In 1891, Hawaii was not yet considered US territory, cars were non-existant, and indoor plumbing and electricity were only for the rich. While Rachel may not be an actual person, the events that occurred and leper colony certainly did exist. The experience is heart-wrenching just reading. The characters were very likable and the setting well done. Just like many other parts of history, this is one that shouldn't be forgotten.
Wonderful historical fiction about the Kalupapa leper settlement. I had read Tayman's The Colony last year and I could tell that Brennert really did his research for this novel.
A well written novel about leprosy in Hawaii and the isolation of those affected and sent to Moloka'i. Following the story of Rachel Kalama, exiled to the island when only a young girl, it is a tale of heartbreak and loss as well as love and friendship. The family relationships are well drawn and emotionally rich. There is a good amount of info on Hawaiian culture and society as well as the medical and scientific aspects of Hansen's disease, it's symptoms and effects. The dynamics between the lepers, their caregivers and each other was well portrayed.I enjoyed the first part of the book more than the last, as I found it rushed ahead a bit. Still the story unfolded at a fairly good pace. I would recommend this book to anyone interested in the history of Hawaii and the island of Moloka'i.
reat book. Feels like an epic but reads very quickly. For me, the characters were amazing at the beginning, faded a little in the middle, and then reignited a spark of love from me at the end. Brennert did an amazing job of writing a character that was neither too good to be true or too bad to be liked. Someone who had found good in a life of unfairness but had developed weaknesses that are believable in someone who had lived her life. I love an author who will do that - who will risk undying loyalty to their protagonist to make them real. It worked.The book spans the late 19th century to the mid/late 20th century and tells the life of one child/woman who was exiled to and imprisoned on Moloka'i from the time she was 5 years old until she was into her 50's. Moloka'i was a leper colony. Rachel didn't even know what leprosy (Hanson's Disease) was but it stole her from her parents and siblings and left her homeless, feeling abandoned, and thinking she was without family. But this community became her family and it was lovely.The history behind the novel is devastating and tragic. Not easy to deal with on an emotional level.
Wow wow wow. Best book I've read, so far, in 2014. I thought it was so well written, very interesting (a subject and place I didn't know a lot about), and it even made me cry a few times. I now want to read one of his other books, Honolulu. I just loved this book!
In 1893, seven year old Rachel Kalama is enjoying life with her parents and three siblings. One day, her mother notices a rash on her leg and her life changes instantly. When the rash doesn't go away, her mother dresses her up in long skirts and shoes. A fight with her sister at school reveals the secret they have been trying to hide. Rachel has leprosy. Because Hawaiians were particularly susceptible to the disease, the government took drastic steps to contain it. Those infected were isolated from the rest of the community, first to a local hospital, and then to the island of Moloka’i. It didn't matter if you were only seven years old. This story spans almost eighty years but deals primarily with Rachel as a young child. At first Rachel doesn't realize that she may never see her family again but eventually makes a home or the next several decades, and forges a family to replace the one she lost. Over the years, Rachel meets so many characters that the reader will come to care about. The author did a wonderful job of making these full characters with interesting back stories. Many of them have been based on actual people that were sent to Molokai. I've had this book on my TBR for at least five years but avoided it because I thought reading about lepers would be both gruesome and sad. The darkness of the subject is balanced with examples of the courage and strength of the human spirit that faces adversity and triumph. It was a fascinating piece of history compellingly written as a character drive historical fiction. For readers of historical fiction who like to see something different, Moloka’i tells a unique story of Hawaii.
I'm not sure why, but after a bit this book seemed to just drag on for me--whether writing style, lack of real events or movement, both, or neither, I can't say; but I was honestly considering a 2-star rating except that the ending worked out all right for me, since something actually happened then. Pretty good as a historical novel; but nothing extraordinary, to me, as a novel in itself, if that statement even makes sense.