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101st out of 246 books
—
215 voters
The Last Aloha
2010 BAIPA Award Winner: Best Historical Fiction. How did Hawaii become part of America? This story, inspired by true events suppressed for nearly 100 years, is the one James Michener never wrote. In 1886, Laura Jennings travels to Hawaii to live with missionary relatives. She imagines she'll live in a grass hut, ministering to savages. When she arrives in Honolulu, she's...more
Paperback, 375 pages
Published
June 1st 2009
by Lost Coast Press
(first published May 15th 2009)
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This had an intriguing start. Laura loses her father and her fiance both and goes to live with her aunt in Hawaii. Her aunt suffers ill health, her uncle is a pure evil villain, and the care of her two girl cousins falls into Laura's hands. Laura eventually realizes (not soon enough in my opinion) that she needs to get out from under her controlling uncle Stephen's rule. (She actually has to have this revelation slapped into her.) Oppurtunity arrises when the heir to the Hawaiian throne, a young...more
In this novel, author Gaellen Quinn tells the true story of the overthrow and imprisonment of Hawaii's last queen and the resulting annexation of Hawaii to the US. This history is not widely known outside of Hawaii.
It can be debated whether or not the US affiliation was good or bad in the long run, in the short run or the future, but there can be no serious debate on the ethics of those who engineered the US annexation. What they did was totally shameful. This novel captures not only the actions...more
It can be debated whether or not the US affiliation was good or bad in the long run, in the short run or the future, but there can be no serious debate on the ethics of those who engineered the US annexation. What they did was totally shameful. This novel captures not only the actions...more
This is an historical novel about the end of the Hawaian monarchy. It begins during the reign of Kalakau. Laura Jennings is preparing for her wedding in San Francisco when her fiance Andrew and her father are killed when their carriage is hit by a cable car. In his dying breath, her father asks her to go to his sister in Honolulu. When Laura gets to Honolulu, she finds her aunt is an invalid and Stephen Price, her uncle by marriage is autocratic, expects her to care for his two daughters, act as...more
This story had such great potential. Unfortunately it was trying to be too many things at once: Historical fiction, romance, drama, history, political intrigue, etc etc. In the process, the story just tripped over its own feet and didn't succeed in any one category. It dealt too intimately with real historical figures and events to be historical fiction. The romance fizzled out halfway through before croaking a sad and pathetic death. The drama was nonexistent because the narrative was too detac...more
Jun 25, 2011
Annie
rated it
5 of 5 stars
·
review of another edition
Shelves:
couldnt-put-it-down,
historical-fiction
I loved this book! It drew you in with Laura's story: having already lost her mother, Laura loses both her father and fiancee in a horrible accident. Now an orphan, Laura goes to Hawaii to live with her father's sister whom she has never met. She expects this missionary family to live simply, ministering to the savages of Hawaii and is shocked and horrified to see that they live in opulent splendor with little respect for the Hawaiians they live among. She soon leaves this household to work for...more
If you thought that one day the United States decided to annex the Hawaiian Islands, then viola they became the fiftieth state, well, you’d be wrong. In The Last Aloha, Quinn illustrates the duplicity and conniving of Hawaiian politicians to become attached to America.
Quinn cloaks her research in a fictional tale of a young woman, Laura, bound for medical school in 1886. The deaths of her fiancée and father in a carriage accident in busy San Francisco force Laura to go to her aunt’s home in the...more
Quinn cloaks her research in a fictional tale of a young woman, Laura, bound for medical school in 1886. The deaths of her fiancée and father in a carriage accident in busy San Francisco force Laura to go to her aunt’s home in the...more
It's hard to know how much of this historical novel is history, and how much is novel, but if you're interested in Hawaiian culture and history it's a great read. When I lived in Hawaii the general consensus was that the U.S. government was solely to blame for the overthrow of the last queen of the Kingdom of Hawaii. If the account in this book is true, the queen was actually overthrown by a small band of disgruntled second-generation missionaries who wanted power to go along with the vast amoun...more
I really enjoyed this book. I lived in Hawaii for a couple of years and I love reading historical fiction about the Islands. After visiting 'Iolani Palace and other historic buildings in Hawaii, I realize there is a mountain of information about the period preceeding the annexation of Hawaii to the United States. To attempt to include all of this information in one novel would be a near-impossible task. With that said, I do think Quinn did a decent job of summarizing what happened without gettin...more
The mother of one of my college friends wrote this and was actually kind enough to sign my copy. If you're interested in Hawaiian history and culture (especially the late 1800s), you will be fascinated. Usually with historical fiction, I'm more sucked in by the personal story than the historical backdrop. In this case, it was the other way around and I was more interested in the actual history than the struggles of the fictional main character, named Laura. In any case, I learned a lot about Haw...more
I'm still surprised by the force with which this novel gripped me. I'm usually leery of fiction in which real historical figures are included in the cast of characters; it seems a little invasive of their privacy, even centuries after the fact. And this novel is full of such characters! But it is beautifully written, and deeply sympathetic to the Hawaiian people--particularly to the last of the monarchs, Kalakaua and Lili'uokalani, who could read the writing on the wall with devastating clarity,...more
"And I want my people to know. They should continue to work for justice, but with aloha. It's our essence, like a fragrance is to a flower. Aloha is our spirit, it's who we are. If we don't have that, we're lost, and there is no more Hawaii."
San Francisco late 1880's - Laura Jennings has her whole life in front of her - but tragedy strikes when her father and fiancé are killed in a carriage accident. Laura had hoped to go to medical school, but left alone and with little money she must join her...more
San Francisco late 1880's - Laura Jennings has her whole life in front of her - but tragedy strikes when her father and fiancé are killed in a carriage accident. Laura had hoped to go to medical school, but left alone and with little money she must join her...more
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I read this on our trip to the islands. The history and the culture of the Hawaiian people could not have been explalined to me any better. The US treated the Hawaiian people no better than the native American Indians. Taking their lands, treating the Hawaiians as second class citzens. Americans can really be arragant pigs. This book will open your eyes and hopefully your hearts. Also the description of the islands is beautiful. And there's a love story with a twist to boot. I
This book was a hand-me-down from a recent trip to Oahu. Though I enjoyed the connection to Hawaiian history and the opportunity to reflect on my sight-seeing adventures, I can't say that I thoroughly enjoyed this historical novel about the changing state of a kingdom/statehood. Spoiler alert: tragedy strikes throughout; the ending doesn't really redeem itself as the last 50 pages whirls through a huge chunk of time without real connection or sense. For such a tranquil, euphoric setting, this wa...more
I bought this book in Hawaii because I wanted to learn more about the transition from monarchy to statehood. This is a novel, but it is based on the truth. Just as I suspected - there was a lot of misconception and deception involved. The powerful white land owners had to have it their way and stepped all over the peaceful Hawaiian people. Not the most sophisticated writing, but a good read. I learned a lot and enjoyed the story.
This novel told the story of the annexation of of the Kingdom of Hawaii by the United States. After having read other works on this topic, I don't feel the bias mentioned in another review. From the influx of Puritan missionaries in the early 1800s, Americans did Hawaii no favors.
I feel that the story of Laura was a vehicle for the story of the annexation. She was incidental to the author's purpose.
I feel that the story of Laura was a vehicle for the story of the annexation. She was incidental to the author's purpose.
Well done! I enjoyed the fictional perspective of "Laura Jennings" gave this a unique view of the de-evolution of the last Hawaiian Kings and the political machinations of the second & subsequent Missionary Familys that brought Hawaii into statehood. Of particular interest was the realization that England might have annexed the Islands as well as China or Japan.
This book was awesome!!! I'm so proud to be Hawaiian!! It's amazing what you're not taught in school about the annexation of Hawaii. I already knew Hawaiian history. But growing up on the mainland you get a different version. It's nice to know that somebody is willing to write a book on what really went on behind the scenes. This is a great book and I recommend it for anybody who has the true spirit of Aloha in their heart.
This historical novel about the annexation of Hawaii was so simplistic and biased that I was surprised to later find out how much of it was true. The writing level seemed appropriate for high schoolers, but they wouldn't be much interested in all the political maneuvering.
Read this on my Kindle on a trip to Hawaii to get a feel for the period at the turn of the 19th century when the US annexed Hawaii. The book certainly delivers on that score, and it's not a pretty picture. The writing was good as opposed to great, but in terms of showing how the sugar growers and other wealthy interests forced a takeover of the island this is definitely a good read. Queen Lilioukalani is a noble and memorable character.
Historical Fiction, taking place in Honolulu. Its the story of Hawaii's last queen, Lili/uokalani, as the Missionaries try to take Hawaii out of her power. Great history and of course more into the lives of the Hawaiian people and their spirit.
The Hawaiian history was interesting but I could not buy into Laura, the main character. She was too one-dimensional, a pure victim. She got annoying after a while. A Hawaiian POV character would have made this more interesting.
Very interesting historical book for us haoles -- does not make me proud of what the Americans did to Hawaii. But the writing was a bit disjointed, and the romance issues took away what I felt the story really was
Facinating history of how the islands became part of the US. The story weaves around a young woman uncovering her fathers early life. I only happened upon this book at a signing and have an autographed copy.
A engaging story of how the sugar kings and aristocratic missionary descendants in Hawaii over through the monarchy and annexed the islands to satisfy their own greed. Very sad and very true.
Good historical fiction. Having read the Queens book this followed the real events pretty closely. Easy, quick read butporesents the history of Hawaii from a view American don't often think of.
A lovely, cuturally sensitive retelling of the story of annexation of Hawaii by the United States through the eyes of a fictional character. Historically accurate and appalling.
I read this while in Hawaii and it really was a book I could not put down, especially those last 50 or so pages! I learned a whole lot about Hawaii history from reading it.
I had no idea how sketchy and shameful the history of Hawaii's annexation was. I never learned a bit of this in school. This book was as educational as it was enjoyable to read.
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How did far-off Hawaii become part of America. A suppressed store on how the Missionary Party plots to topple the throne and Hawaii's last queen.
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Apr 10, 2010 10:58am
Apr 10, 2010 11:20am