Daughter of Moloka'i: A Novel
NOW A LOS ANGELES TIMES BESTSELLER NAMED A BEST/MOST ANTICIPATED BOOK BY: USA Today - BookRiot - BookBub - LibraryReads - OC Register - Never Ending Voyage
The highly anticipated sequel to Alan Brennert's acclaimed book club favorite, and national bestseller, Moloka'i "A novel of illumination and affection." --USA Today Alan Brennert's beloved novel Moloka'i, currently has over 600,000 copies in print. This companion tale tells the story of Ruth, the daughter that Rachel Kalama--quarantined for most of her life at the isolated leprosy settlement of Kalaupapa--was forced to give up at birth. The book follows young Ruth from her arrival at the Kapi'olani Home for Girls in Honolulu, to her adoption by a Japanese couple who raise her on a strawberry and grape farm in California, her marriage and unjust internment at Manzanar Relocation Camp during World War II--and then, after the war, to the life-altering day when she receives a letter from a woman who says she is Ruth's birth mother, Rachel. Daughter of Moloka'i expands upon Ruth and Rachel's 22-year relationship, only hinted at in Moloka'i. It's a richly emotional tale of two women--different in some ways, similar in others--who never expected to meet, much less come to love, one another. And for Ruth it is a story of discovery, the unfolding of a past she knew nothing about. Told in vivid, evocative prose that conjures up the beauty and history of both Hawaiian and Japanese cultures, it's the powerful and poignant tale that readers of Moloka'i have been awaiting for fifteen years.BUY THE BOOK
Community Reviews
Moloka'i is, simply put, a fascinating, endearing, haunting, and compelling story about Rachel Kalama, a character that invades and remains in one's heart. Rachel was torn from her family in Honolulu and exiled to Molokai, where she remained quarantined for more than 50 years in Kalaupapa, an isolated leprosy settlement. She was fortunate to meet a wonderful man, Kenji, and marry, but they were heartbroken when they were forced to give their only child, daughter Ruth, up a few hours after her birth. After one year in isolation on Molokai -- during which her parents could only visit her with a glass wall separating them -- Ruth was put up for adoption.
Daughter of Molokai follows Ruth from her arrival at the Kapi'olani Home for Girls in Honolulu, to her adoption at age 5 by a Japanese couple. After a few years happily growing up in Honolulu with her parents and older brothers, the family relocates to Florin, California, a small town near Sacramento. Her family joins her father's brother and his family on their strawberry and Flame Tokay grape farm. Rachel marries Frank and the two of them are happily running a local business and raising their two young children when the attack on Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941, changes everything. Rachel and family are forced to leave everything behind and enter an internment camp, eventually assigned to Manzanar Relocation Camp. After the war, her life is again changed when she intercepts a letter to her parents from a woman who claims to be Ruth’s birth mother, Rachel.
At that point, the two books overlap. Moloka'i was Rachel's story and her eventual relationship with Ruth was not described in detail or from Ruth's point of view. That aspect of the story is related in Daughter of Molokai.
Author Alan Brennert has crafted a worthy follow up to Moloka'i. It is an equally rich tale, focused upon Ruth's upbringing in a Japanese family, struggle to understand why her mother gave her up, and challenges as a person who is hapa (of both Hawaiian and Japanese descent) living in the Japanese community. Scrupulously researched, Daughter of Molokai explores the extreme prejudice toward Japanese nationals, as well as their children and grandchildren, in California which was exacerbated on a national scale when Japan attacked Pearl Harbor. Brennert describes, in heartbreaking detail, the indignities to which Ruth and her family are subjected during World War II, illustrating the different ways in which the various family members respond.
And he fully explores the reunion of Rachel and her beloved only child and the relationship they are at long last able to forge. Rachel deems it nothing less than a miracle, brought about the cure for leprosy, later known as Hansen's Disease, developed in the 1940's. From Ruth's perspective, meeting her mother allows her to discover the truth about her past, and develop an understanding and appreciation of the Hawaiian culture.
Like Molokai, Daughter of Molokai is a beautiful story, full of historical and cultural detail that leaves the reader richer for the experience of having read the book. Brennert's love of the Hawaiian and Japanese people is evident in the accurate, yet compassionate, manner in which he tells the story of his characters' lives. Daughter of Molokai is poignant, emotionally satisfying, and powerfully eloquent. I enthusiastically give it, and Molokai, my strongest recommendation.
Thanks to NetGalley for an Advance Reader's Copy of the book.
Daughter of Molokai follows Ruth from her arrival at the Kapi'olani Home for Girls in Honolulu, to her adoption at age 5 by a Japanese couple. After a few years happily growing up in Honolulu with her parents and older brothers, the family relocates to Florin, California, a small town near Sacramento. Her family joins her father's brother and his family on their strawberry and Flame Tokay grape farm. Rachel marries Frank and the two of them are happily running a local business and raising their two young children when the attack on Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941, changes everything. Rachel and family are forced to leave everything behind and enter an internment camp, eventually assigned to Manzanar Relocation Camp. After the war, her life is again changed when she intercepts a letter to her parents from a woman who claims to be Ruth’s birth mother, Rachel.
At that point, the two books overlap. Moloka'i was Rachel's story and her eventual relationship with Ruth was not described in detail or from Ruth's point of view. That aspect of the story is related in Daughter of Molokai.
Author Alan Brennert has crafted a worthy follow up to Moloka'i. It is an equally rich tale, focused upon Ruth's upbringing in a Japanese family, struggle to understand why her mother gave her up, and challenges as a person who is hapa (of both Hawaiian and Japanese descent) living in the Japanese community. Scrupulously researched, Daughter of Molokai explores the extreme prejudice toward Japanese nationals, as well as their children and grandchildren, in California which was exacerbated on a national scale when Japan attacked Pearl Harbor. Brennert describes, in heartbreaking detail, the indignities to which Ruth and her family are subjected during World War II, illustrating the different ways in which the various family members respond.
And he fully explores the reunion of Rachel and her beloved only child and the relationship they are at long last able to forge. Rachel deems it nothing less than a miracle, brought about the cure for leprosy, later known as Hansen's Disease, developed in the 1940's. From Ruth's perspective, meeting her mother allows her to discover the truth about her past, and develop an understanding and appreciation of the Hawaiian culture.
Like Molokai, Daughter of Molokai is a beautiful story, full of historical and cultural detail that leaves the reader richer for the experience of having read the book. Brennert's love of the Hawaiian and Japanese people is evident in the accurate, yet compassionate, manner in which he tells the story of his characters' lives. Daughter of Molokai is poignant, emotionally satisfying, and powerfully eloquent. I enthusiastically give it, and Molokai, my strongest recommendation.
Thanks to NetGalley for an Advance Reader's Copy of the book.
I was pleasantly surprised to see this on the new book shelf at the library. I had no idea there was a sequel to Moloka'i, which I read back in 2008. I vividly remembered the book and it became one of my favorites that I recommend to everyone. It took me forever to read this thanks to work and many late nights and weekends taken from me. I had to schedule car repair and sit in a waiting room for 2 hours just to get time to finish.
Little Ruth is taken to an orphanage immediately after being born to Rachel (the main character in the first book). People with Hanson's Disease (or leprosy) were not allowed to be with their children and babies were immediately removed from Moloka'i to avoid contracting the disease.
Ruth is spirited, to say the least, and is eventually adopted by a Japanese family. Ruth's is a hapa, half Hawaiian and half Japanese. She endures a lot of teasing and bullying growing up due to her halfness. The family moves to California to work on Uncle Jiro's farm. This was right before Pearl Harbor and even then, the racism was terrible. Once Pearl Harbor happened, it got much much worse.
Ruth, now a wife and mother, ends up imprisoned in Manzanar, an interment camp for anyone who looks Japanese, even if they were born in the US. This really happened, people. Our government really did this to Americans because of how they looked and it's sickening. With all the hysteria happening today, I sincerely hope we never become this horrible again.
Ruth is in the prison (camp is to nice and not realistic) with her parents and immediate family. The atrocities that happened, with the the fatality of one family member, are horrible. Once the government gets it's brain back, the families are allowed to leave and try to regain their livlihoods. Back home, however, anything Japanese, including homes and businesses, were torched by white idiots.
Ruth and family start gaining back their lives, when a letter arrives from Hawaii. Rachel, now cured of Hanson's Disease (and on "parole" from Moloka'i) thanks to Sulfa, wants to hear from Ruth. Ruth was never told about why she was given up for adoption and, with her mother's blessing, meets her birth mother.
This was another fantastic book that was real and raw and lovingly written. Read both in order, they are well worth your time
Little Ruth is taken to an orphanage immediately after being born to Rachel (the main character in the first book). People with Hanson's Disease (or leprosy) were not allowed to be with their children and babies were immediately removed from Moloka'i to avoid contracting the disease.
Ruth is spirited, to say the least, and is eventually adopted by a Japanese family. Ruth's is a hapa, half Hawaiian and half Japanese. She endures a lot of teasing and bullying growing up due to her halfness. The family moves to California to work on Uncle Jiro's farm. This was right before Pearl Harbor and even then, the racism was terrible. Once Pearl Harbor happened, it got much much worse.
Ruth, now a wife and mother, ends up imprisoned in Manzanar, an interment camp for anyone who looks Japanese, even if they were born in the US. This really happened, people. Our government really did this to Americans because of how they looked and it's sickening. With all the hysteria happening today, I sincerely hope we never become this horrible again.
Ruth is in the prison (camp is to nice and not realistic) with her parents and immediate family. The atrocities that happened, with the the fatality of one family member, are horrible. Once the government gets it's brain back, the families are allowed to leave and try to regain their livlihoods. Back home, however, anything Japanese, including homes and businesses, were torched by white idiots.
Ruth and family start gaining back their lives, when a letter arrives from Hawaii. Rachel, now cured of Hanson's Disease (and on "parole" from Moloka'i) thanks to Sulfa, wants to hear from Ruth. Ruth was never told about why she was given up for adoption and, with her mother's blessing, meets her birth mother.
This was another fantastic book that was real and raw and lovingly written. Read both in order, they are well worth your time
Alan Brennert doesn't pull his punches when it comes to some of the more shameful aspects of history. In Moloka'i he explored the segregation of Hansen's Disease patients in Hawai'i, through the eyes of Rachel Kalama who was removed from her family and sent to the leper colony on Moloka'i at a young age. Now, in Daughter of Moloka'i, Brennert tells the story of Ruth, the daughter Rachel was forced to give up for adoption. And his unstinting gaze falls on the racism against Japanese immigrants and the Japanese internment camps of WWII.
As always, Brennert's gaze falls beyond the immediate drama to give us the full and rich sweep of a life. Ruth's life is fully imagined, from her time in an orphanage and her dreams of finding a family to her happiness with her adopted parents and brothers to the hardships they faced as farmers in rural California to their internment and beyond. Once Rachel is re-introduced into the narrative, it is fascinating to watch Brennert tell the same story, even many of the exact same scenes, but told from Ruth's perspective. Reading the books back-to-back turns them into a wonderfully faceted multi-generational story that is a pleasure to read.
As always, Brennert's gaze falls beyond the immediate drama to give us the full and rich sweep of a life. Ruth's life is fully imagined, from her time in an orphanage and her dreams of finding a family to her happiness with her adopted parents and brothers to the hardships they faced as farmers in rural California to their internment and beyond. Once Rachel is re-introduced into the narrative, it is fascinating to watch Brennert tell the same story, even many of the exact same scenes, but told from Ruth's perspective. Reading the books back-to-back turns them into a wonderfully faceted multi-generational story that is a pleasure to read.
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