Daughter of Moloka'i: A Novel
Description
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.Show more
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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...read more
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 ...read more
Little Ruth is ...read more
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 ga...read more
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