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Honolulu

by Alan Brennert (Goodreads Author)

3.97 of 5 stars 3.97 · rating details · 7,724 ratings · 1,237 reviews

“In Korea in those days, newborn girls were not deemed important enough to be graced with formal names, but were instead given nicknames, which often reflected the parents’ feelings on the birth of a daughter: I knew a girl named Anger, and another called Pity. As for me, my parents named me Regret.”

Honolulu is the rich, unforgettable story of a young “picture bride” who j...more

Paperback, 431 pages

Published February 2nd 2010 by St. Martin's Griffin (first published March 3rd 2009)

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Apr 18, 2009 Jeanette rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition Recommends it for: Anyone interested in Hawaiian Territorial history

Shelves: all-fiction, pacific-islands, four-star-fiction, historical-fiction

The main character, named "Regret", is born in Korea in 1897. In 1912, she goes to Hawaii as a "picture bride",to be married immediately on arrival to a Korean man. As picture brides, these young girls were brought to Honolulu by false promises. When they faced the reality of their situation, they had to either make do as best they could or strike out on their own. Regret, now calling herself Jin, leaves the plantation and goes to Honolulu. There she uses her sewing skills to begin building a ne...more The main character, named "Regret", is born in Korea in 1897. In 1912, she goes to Hawaii as a "picture bride",to be married immediately on arrival to a Korean man. As picture brides, these young girls were brought to Honolulu by false promises. When they faced the reality of their situation, they had to either make do as best they could or strike out on their own. Regret, now calling herself Jin, leaves the plantation and goes to Honolulu. There she uses her sewing skills to begin building a new life for herself. In following her story, you meet all the immigrants and native Hawaiian people who overcome their traditional animosities to succeed together and become the "mixed plate" that made Hawaii what it is today.

Although written as one woman's life story, this is really the story of all the immigrants who went to Hawaii during its territorial period. Chinese, Japanese, Koreans, Portuguese, and Filipinos went there to escape poverty and/or political and social oppression in their native lands. When they arrived in Honolulu, they faced grueling work on the sugar plantations, brutal treatment from the white overseers, and barely livable company housing. Along with this they had to cope with huge culture shock and language barriers. Yet for many of these people, this situation was better than what they left behind in their own countries.

While not strictly historical fiction, I think Honolulu is an excellent composite representation of life in Hawaii in the early 20th century. Brennert has woven many true stories from that time period into the narrative. I learned quite a bit, and for me the history gave the story much more depth and color.
Among the many historical references, he includes:

A real murder trial featuring Clarence Darrow as defense attorney.

The real woman who inspired Somerset Maugham's "Sadie Thompson" character.

A Chinese-Hawaiian cop named Chang Apana ("the real Charlie Chan"), world-famous for his remarkable skills.

A race-related riot in the notorious Iwilei prostitution compound.

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Mar 18, 2009 Alan Matsumoto rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

A really good book but doesn't measure up to Molokai'. But what book does? I really enjoyed learning about the early 20th century Korean immigration as well as the history of Hawaii and it's city of Honolulu. I really liked how the author intertwined parts of true history into his book of fiction. Brennert has a way of transporting you to the island with his lush descriptions. You feel as if you are actually there. Or wish you were there. A solid book definitely worth reading.

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Jan 18, 2011 Jennifer rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Simply, it tried to do too much. This is not to say I hated it. I found myself laughing and in tears at some points (BTW, I also cry at Cotton commercials) but for the most part, I was kind of bored. To me, this was a weak attempt at matching Arthur Golden's "Memoirs of a Geisha" - a white male writing from the perspective of an Asian woman in a very different time. Where Golden succeeded and lured me into believing his work of fiction was more of an autobiography written by a Japanese geisha, B...more

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Sep 28, 2012 Carol rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

In Korea in those days, newborn girls were not deemed important enough to be graced with formal names, but were instead given nicknames (which often reflected the parents’ feelings on the birth of a daughter) her parents named her "Regret". Emboldened by her desire to be educated, Regret commits herself as a mail-order bride to a prosperous man in Hawaii, where girls are allowed to attend school. But when she arrives, she finds her new husband is a callous plantation worker with drinking and gam...more

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Mar 28, 2009 Linda rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

I am torn between 3 stars and 4. It isn't what I would call great literature, but I did find it to be a very interesting story and an easy read. I really liked the way historical events and characters are inter-woven into this fictional story, but sometimes it reads a bit like a romance novel with the way loose ends seem to get tied up in a pleasing way. On the other hand, when you finish the book you will feel good. I have heard that Moloka'i is better, and am looking forward to reading it.

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Mar 21, 2009 Rosalie rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

This book is a wonderful historical fiction depicting Honolulu from the turn of the century until around 1940. It truely opens your eyes about how the natives were treated by the white who came to their island.

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Jan 25, 2013 Agape rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

This book explores how fate, success, destiny and controlling your own path in life is a choice. Culturally speaking, many women at the turn of the century felt they had no choice. And I agree... really, did they? Unless a rare guiding hand or twist of normal circumstances intervenes, these woman had few if any choices in the mapping out of their lives.

In Brennert's story, a young Korean girl named "Regret" begins her first lesson in a woman's control over her own life when her mother shows her...more This book explores how fate, success, destiny and controlling your own path in life is a choice. Culturally speaking, many women at the turn of the century felt they had no choice. And I agree... really, did they? Unless a rare guiding hand or twist of normal circumstances intervenes, these woman had few if any choices in the mapping out of their lives.

In Brennert's story, a young Korean girl named "Regret" begins her first lesson in a woman's control over her own life when her mother shows her a randomly woven cloth called a "chogak po." Regret asks her mother why she didn't take more time and effort to purposely create an ordered pattern or design that made sense. The mother answers, "When we are young, we think life will be like a 'su po': one fabric, one weave, one grand design. But in truth, life turns out to be more like the patchwork cloths- bits and pieces, odds and ends- people, places, things we never expected, never wanted, perhaps. There is harmony in this, too and beauty."

Regret thought about how she would be destined to living quietly, uneducated, within the four walls of the woman's quarters for the rest of her life. She saw her female relations resigning themselves to the idea of "han," the bitter facts of life that a woman simply must accept. But Regret didn't know that she would be one of the few "lucky" ones in her family. Due to the sympathies of a dying aunt, Regret was given a chance to secretly learn to read. Regret had been born with a natural tenacity and a questioning mind, but when she began to read, seeing the whole world opening up to her, she started to beleive that maybe she could overcome the "han" that suppressed her female relatives.

Regret and several friends become "picture brides" and take a ship to Hawaii. Although life on the island is more challenging than it was in Korea, Regret makes her own way and builds her own success. The "happy go lucky," glossy, post-card perfect image of Hawaii is far from the reality beneath. The rural portions of Hawaii were a turmoil of once hopeful immigrants searching for the American Dream but finding themselves toiling on plantations, living in poverty and filth.
The story is well written and gives a gritty, insider's view of life in Hawaii from 1920 to 1960, but 3/4 of the way into the book, the author feels compelled to introduce and then doggedly follow historically accurate characters and events in Hawaii. This forced the story to unnaturally drape around these historical facts and events that were suddenly injected in the story, that I as a reader didn't really care about. Other than that, I would recommend the book for the thought provoking theme, story line and colorful portrayal of Hawaii during this time period.
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Dec 18, 2012 Jacquie Ream rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

During my recent visit to Hawaii, I read the 2009 award-winning book Honolulu by Alan Brennert. Two different friends recommended this book to me before I left for Hawaii; the day before my departure, my husband plunked the trade paperback down on my desk and said, “I think you’ll like this.”

Indeed, I did enjoy it. Honolulu is a fictionalized historic romantic tale of a Korean woman who comes to Honolulu in 1914 as a “picture bride” (equivalent of a mail-order bride) to escape her life as a seco...more

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Sep 26, 2012 Regina Lindsey rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

“There is a uniquely Korean emotion known as han – one of the fundamental aspects, it is said, of our psychology. It is a kind of fatalistic acceptance of defeat and suffering, a despairing resignation to one’s lot in life. Korean women particularly understand han, but it is also rooted in the Korean people’s history and our nation’s endurance of many trials and misfortunes over the centuries. Yet we do endure, have endured, will endure-and from that we derive the fortitude to go on, to continue...more “There is a uniquely Korean emotion known as han – one of the fundamental aspects, it is said, of our psychology. It is a kind of fatalistic acceptance of defeat and suffering, a despairing resignation to one’s lot in life. Korean women particularly understand han, but it is also rooted in the Korean people’s history and our nation’s endurance of many trials and misfortunes over the centuries. Yet we do endure, have endured, will endure-and from that we derive the fortitude to go on, to continue the struggle even if our efforts be doomed. So even as I told myself, I will never know more than I know now, my sense of han gave me the strength to endure what lay ahead of me-and that strength gave me the courage to challenge it.

Secretly learning to read and write, Regret eventually found the courage to ask her father permission to attend school. Excoriating her for daring to dream outside of the expectations of a female in Korea, Regret never loses the dream. Hearing of an opportunity to go to Hawaii as a picture bride where, Regret is told, ample opportunities for learning occur and promises of a wealthy husband are offered, Regret assents to the proposition only to find a cruel and abusive laborer waiting for her in Hawaii. Ever the dreamer, Regret finally breaks free of the chains of the marriage and seeks a life of her own in Hawaii.

I’m always a bit reticent to read a follow up novel when I fall in love with my introduction to his or her work. Sometimes I adore the second work, but more times than not I am disappointed. That was certainly the case here. While the story is lovely and there are certainly interesting historical tidbits within, I just didn’t have the visceral reaction that I did to Molokai. I didn’t fall in love with theses character and the tragic tale didn’t tug at my heart the way it did in Molokai. Finally, since one of the main themes of the book dealt with racial prejudice is it is hard to understand why the bombing of Pearl Harbor was completely skipped over. The best part of the book was a peek into Korean history and culture.
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Aug 26, 2012 Linda rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

My husband and adult daughter and I listened to this in recorded books format during a road trip. Very good choice--the plot and characters can be grasped without rereading, the settings were new to us, and we learned something.

The book taught us something about Korean traditions at the start of the 20th century and about the influence of Imperial Japan on Koreans at that time. It also taught us about the Asian immigrants to Hawaii and their economic motivations.

Although I think that the murde...more

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Aug 15, 2012 Trudy rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

I liked this book more than Molokai, because it was a bit more joyful, although not at all lacking in heartache and tragedy. Regret, the main character, is born into a traditional Korean, Confucian family. Her name suggests the welcome her birth received. She longs for an education, but has to content herself with being able to read- taught by a kesaeng, a Korean geisha- whom her Aunt Obedience engaged for that purpose. When Regret hears that Korean men are looking for wives in Hawaii, she and...more

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Jun 19, 2012 Dana rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Honolulu, by Alan Brennert, takes you on a sea voyage through place and time from Korea to Hawaii, from and 1914 to the 1970's. Brennert shows us the true Hawaii, through the eyes of a Korean "picture bride", who invites us to share her memories with this startling confession:

"In Korea in those days, newborn girls were not deemed important enough to be graced with formal names, but were instead given nicknames, which often reflected the parents' feelings on the birth of a daughter: I knew a gir...more

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May 18, 2012 April Hochstrasser rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Because of outdated social mores in Korea: women walked behind their husbands, men 'owned' their wives and domestic abuse was high, women did not eat meals with their husbands, rather they remained in the kitchen, young adults in love could neither hold hands, nor kiss in public, girls covered their mouths when they laughed, a woman could treat her daughter in-law horribly, and other such rules are accepted, some even to this day.

The Confucian ideals seem old-fashioned and very conservative, "T...more

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Nov 08, 2011 Heather Smith rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

I have always had a love affair with Hawaii, especially after spending three weeks there a few years ago. Hence why I chose this book. I knew some of Hawaii’s history, and I knew that picture brides were very common in the 1900’s, but even I learned more than I ever imagined through this well-written, intriguing, and true to life story.

The 1920’s and 1930’s in Hawaii were known as the “Glamour Days”. Yet, Honolulu does an excellent job portraying the dark side of those days. Although Hawaii was...more I have always had a love affair with Hawaii, especially after spending three weeks there a few years ago. Hence why I chose this book. I knew some of Hawaii’s history, and I knew that picture brides were very common in the 1900’s, but even I learned more than I ever imagined through this well-written, intriguing, and true to life story.

The 1920’s and 1930’s in Hawaii were known as the “Glamour Days”. Yet, Honolulu does an excellent job portraying the dark side of those days. Although Hawaii was portrayed to the mainland as islands with streets of gold, tropical palm trees, and glistening ocean, much of Hawaii was inhabited by Native Hawaiians and a menagerie of immigrants from many different lands; most whom labored for low wages and lived in poverty. Honolulu reveals the constant struggles and rampant racism that occurred while the many different ethnicities tried to find peace among one another and share this small island as one.

This novel is an excellent representation of an Ethnic novel, not only for its representation of Korean life in the early 1900’s, but even more so for its ethnic representation of Hawaii. Hawaii is a multicultural society that was founded on the struggles and hardships of the original inhabitants. Honolulu excellently represents the viewpoint of Native Hawaiians, immigrants, “Haoles”, and the diversity that created a society that is unique and unmatched. In the words of Jin, “Hawaii has been called a melting pot, but I think of it more as a ‘mixed plate’ – a scoop of rice with gravy, a scoop of macaroni salad, a piece of mahi mahi and a side of kimichi. Many different tastes share the plate, but none of them loses its individual flavor, and together, that make up a uniquely ‘local’ cuisine.”

I must further note that Brennert deserves the highest level of praise for writing Honolulu with such skill, historical accuracy, and sensitivity. His passion for the people and places of Hawaii jumps off the pages and conjures an empathy for the characters, a love for the island, and inspiration in the reader.
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Jun 26, 2011 Jennybug rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: books-read-in-2011

I have to say that I thoroughly enjoyed this book, with the exception of some crude language. I was debating if I should give it 3 stars or not and then I came to the realization that one of the reasons I enjoyed it so much is because of where I read it.. Honolulu, Hawaii (The vacation was definitely better than the book). I was picking up some books from the library and when I walked by a shelf this book caught my eye, because we were leaving for Hawaii the next day. It was so much fun reading...more

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Jun 21, 2011 Sara Oestreich rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: adult-lit

I can’t help it. I didn’t love this book as much as I liked my first foray with Brennert in Moloka’i. In Honolulu we follow Regret who later changes her name to Jin (empowering choice if I don’t say so myself). One of the most affecting parts of the novel is the beginning of the story where the reader spends some time in Korea. You watch as Jin learns to read from one of the last Korean Geishas. As a first breakthrough in the book this is pretty out there. Brennert makes it all work in a serendi...more

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Apr 25, 2011 Debbie rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Let me start by saying this is a good read. It wasn't at all what I expected with the title being "Honolulu" but it is good none the less. It's the story of a Korean woman named Regret, who later changes her name to Jin. Born into a Confucian household that put boys and men as honored parts society and girls and women seen as only wives destined to be no more than maids or breeders for male children. Jin feels the full effect of her father's disappointment and feelings toward her by his naming h...more

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Mar 10, 2011 Julie rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

I was born in Hawaii and spent 18 fabulous months in Korea as a missionary. When perusing books at the library, I stumbled on this little gem and loved it from the start. While in Korea in the late 1980's, I wondered at the social rules of the day. Women walked behind their husbands, men 'owned' their wives and domestic abuse was high, women did not eat meals with their husbands, rather they remained in the kitchen, young adults in love could neither hold hands, nor kiss in public, girls covered...more I was born in Hawaii and spent 18 fabulous months in Korea as a missionary. When perusing books at the library, I stumbled on this little gem and loved it from the start. While in Korea in the late 1980's, I wondered at the social rules of the day. Women walked behind their husbands, men 'owned' their wives and domestic abuse was high, women did not eat meals with their husbands, rather they remained in the kitchen, young adults in love could neither hold hands, nor kiss in public, girls covered their mouths when they laughed, a woman could treat her daughter in-law horribly, and other such rules. I remember going to a home for dinner and when my companion and I sat on the floor to discuss missionary work with the male missionaries and the mission leader, he shouted at us to get in the kitchen to make food with his wife! I witnessed a man beating the crap out of a woman, his wife, girlfriend, whatever, and pounded on his car window demanding he stop (I had a blind rage that day and did not think of, or worry about, my own safety). When he saw this American screaming at him, he drove away, probably just around the corner to resume the beating. The hierarchy of men over women never sat well with me but it was interesting to learn more of the history. The Confucian ideals seem old-fashioned and very conservative, "The wife must regard her husband as heavenly; what he does is a heavenly act and she can only follow him." I knew the Chinese preferred a male child over a female, and given the social rules regarding men and women, the Koreans felt the same way, more so in previous generations. The main character of the book was, unfortunately, named 'Regrettable'.

Growing up in Hawaii during my grade-school years, I thought the world was my backyard. I never longed to leave to visit the mainland (other than to see my grandparents), and was confused when my best girlfriend moaned, "I've got to get off this rock!" I wondered what rock she was talking about and where she wanted to go. I caught a glimpse of old Hawaii and the merging of cultures as the Koreans, Chinese, Japanese, Filipinos, American military, and a hundred other nationalities descended on the islands before the first World War. I could picture many of the places in my young girls' mind, remembering the sugar cane fields my family used to drive through from Ewa (Eh-va)to get to Waipahu for church. I felt transported back to a Hawaii that was both familiar and unfamiliar, and came to understand a little more why, as a haoli child, I was so despised by the local children at my middle school.

The book was a treat for me, perhaps given my personal ties to both the Korean culture and Hawaii, but still, it was a book surely anyone could enjoy. A young girl, once destined to be the wife of a husband who would appreciate her only for her cooking, cleaning, and bearing children, specifically boys, but who would never attend school or leave the Inner Room, becomes a 'picture-bride' and travels to the unknown land called Hawaii and her path changes forever. "A road need not be paved in gold to find treasure at its end." She comes to understand that 'Hawaii is not truly the idyllic paradise of popular songs--islands of love and tranquility, where nothing bad ever happens. It was and is a place where people work and struggle, live and die, as they do the world over.'

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Aug 09, 2010 Lisa rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: fiction, mj-book-club-2009-2010

Honolulu is a sweeping piece of historical fiction. Regret is a Korean girl whose father is very traditional. Korean tradition dictated that women were very much second class citizens with no rights of their own. Additionally, they lived a very sequestered and fettered life, serving first their families and then, later, their husband, usually by arranged marriage. There was no education outside of the home. Regret yearns for a bigger life and jumps at the opportunity to become a "picture bride,"...more

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May 04, 2010 Stephanie rated it 5 of 5 stars

I absolutely loved this book! This was our May book club selection and they read Moloka'i a few years ago--before I was a member. To be honest I was not expecting much--I thought it was going to be a dull, dry book about the misfortunes of a single character. I couldn't see how I would sympathize with her, or how a man could accurately portray a woman dealing with the issues Jin would face. How wrong I was!

Brennert has a fantastic voice, reminding me of the only other man I've ever read who coul...more

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Sep 18, 2009 Tara Chevrestt rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: historical-fiction, hawaii, korean-history-culture

I love Brennert. He wrote my favorite book of all time, Molokai, and in all fairness, that is going to be a tough book to beat. I found Honolulu a tad lukewarm tho. By this I mean, a bit boring at times. It felt more like a history of Koreans and their small business ventures in Hawaii. It gave a wonderful look into the lives of Korean women and their struggles, but the main character, Regret, was not a very fascinating woman herself. I think her friend, Beauty, would have been a better main cha...more

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Jul 25, 2009 Kathleen Hagen added it · review of another edition

Shelves: 2009-audio-books, 2009-fiction

Honolulu, by Alan Brennert, narrated by Ali Ahn, produced by Recorded Books, downloaded from audible.com.

This is a historical novel which runs from about 1916 until the 1950’s, with the major part of the book focusing on the ‘20’s and ‘30’s. This book starts about where Michener’s “Hawaii” left off, but here we’re only dealing with Honolulu. The narrator of the book is Korean. Faced with having to give in to an arranged marriage and to not being allowed to go to school because she was a girl, sh...more

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Jul 20, 2011 Erin rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

I loved this book- maybe not as much as Moloka'i, but I still am completely enamored by the worlds that Brennert creates. What a brave woman Regret is- throughout the book, she is a force to be reckoned with, shedding like layers the ideals of her ancestors in order to live the life and be the woman she desires. I can't imagine how frightening it would be to leave my country, language, family, and way of life behind to marry a man I had only met through a photo as a "picture bride"- what courage...more

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Feb 28, 2011 Cori rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

I love that my book club makes me pick up books that I would have passed over in normal circumstances. Sometimes it works, and sometimes it doesn’t — this is one of the times it worked for me. I really enjoyed Honolulu. In a way, this was written to showcase some of the different things that happened during this time in Hawaii’s history — the Korean picture brides, the life on sugar plantations, the life and deaths of a local boy accused of murder and a Chinese policeman, the “red light” distric...more

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Feb 21, 2009 Misfit rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

(3.5) "...and together they make up a uniquely 'local" cuisine...and thus the author describes the cultural melting pot that is Hawaii. Wanting more out of life than what Korea can offer a young woman, Jin signs on as a "picture bride" (a sort of mail order bride) and sails off to Hawaii with several other young women - although they are in for quite a surprise at what is waiting for them at the docks - the pictures of the grooms are not all they were expecting from the photos. Jin thinks she ge...more

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Nov 18, 2012 Kara rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: historical

My grandpa grew up on a plantation in Hawaii, so I grew up listening to stories of plantation life. I always found something thrilling in the idea of picture brides: it was so adventurous, so risky, and so often disappointing.

Men from Korea, Japan, China, and Okinawa went in droves to Hawaii in the early 20th century with promises paradise and the riches to be made there. Instead, they found themselves working under very difficult conditions for very little pay on plantations. They struck up a k...more My grandpa grew up on a plantation in Hawaii, so I grew up listening to stories of plantation life. I always found something thrilling in the idea of picture brides: it was so adventurous, so risky, and so often disappointing.

Men from Korea, Japan, China, and Okinawa went in droves to Hawaii in the early 20th century with promises paradise and the riches to be made there. Instead, they found themselves working under very difficult conditions for very little pay on plantations. They struck up a kind of community and even created their own language (a mix of English, Hawaiian, and all of their native tongues), pidgin, which is used casually in Hawaii today. Eventually, they wanted to marry, but they wanted girls from their own countries. Girls from their native countries sent over their pictures, the men picked a bride, and the girls were sent for. There was usually deception on both sides: the girls made themselves seem prettier than they were, and the men made themselves seem richer and younger. Our main character, seeking an escape from the oppression of Korea, decides to become a picture bride and finds herself the victim of this deception.

While I liked all the tidbits about plantation life, the book at this point didn't appeal much to me. Gem (or Jin or Regret) speaks much like Chiyo (or Sayuri) in Memoirs of a Geisha. I don't know if this is just what happens when white men try to speak like Asian women, but the similarities were uncanny. Gem was also a fairly boring character. A lot of interesting things happen in her life, but she herself is not an interesting person. She's too good. She doesn't make bad decisions. She's never mean or hurtful or silly or stupid. She's a bore.

The book really picked up for me in its last third. This was about race relations in Hawaii (a touchy subject even today) and Brennert used a real story and fictionalized it. It was at this point that I became enthralled with the book. I couldn't put it down; I needed to keep going until I knew what happened. Starting in the plantations where whites were the owners and overseers and the non-whites were the workers, racial tensions were high. Whites in Hawaii were a small but powerful minority. Watching this play out was fascinating--it more than redeemed the first parts of the book.

I enjoyed reading about the place I grew up, and it was shown in a very realistic way. When a place was mentioned, I could see it. I could hear how people were talking. I loved seeing Queen Liliuokalani and Duke Kahanamoku alive and real. Parts of this book were more real to me than anything I've read in a really long time.(less)

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May 09, 2010 Wendy rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

This was a really good book. I got so involved with it that it was hard to put it down.
Regret is the daughter of a Korean family and is unvalued because she is female. She is belittled constantly by her father and feels unwanted in her own home. When she expresses a desire to learn how to read and write, her father hits her telling her she needs to learn her place. However, due to an aunt in another town she is taught how to read by Evening Rose, a kissaen (a type of entertainer of men).
When the...more

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Jan 11, 2010 Angie rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

The writing captivated me from the start. I'm about 1/2 way through the book right now and am about ready to put it down. It's reading more like a memoir of this character's life. The format is chronological which for a life time of story to tell is proving to be tedious and boring. We'll see in the next few days if I'm up for finishing it. Who knows? It may redeem itself.

Ok-2 days of being sick and either bed or couch bound provided me with ample opportunity to finish this long tale in such a...more

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Aug 22, 2009 Heather rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition Recommends it for: anyone who read "Moloka'i," loves historical fiction, or travels to Hawai'i

Recommended to Heather by: who hasn't?

I love historical fiction and appreciated Brennert's diligent research into Honolulu in the early 20th century.

"Honlulu" did a fine job depicting life for the immigrant and native born Hawaiians--the joys and the sorrows. Despite the years that have passed since those documented in the book, disparities still exist between haoles and kama'ainas, unfortunately. Hawai'i celebrated it's 50th anniversary into statehood yesterday to negligible fanfare by residents. At the time, locals had to vote fo...more

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Apr 17, 2013 Darci Meadville rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

I found this story about a young woman wanting to break free of her family's confinement to be very inspiring. Through challenge after challenge she refuses to give up. She does things and meets people that goes completely away from what her family, and in some cases even her culture, would be pleased with, but works to embrace the good in her world and do the best she can at making her life one with worth. One she can be happy with.

This is very well written, but I did find problems with the pa...more

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About Alan Brennert

Alan Brennert's newest novel, Palisades Park, comes out 4/9/2013. Alan is the author of the historical novels Honolulu and Moloka'i, which was a 2006-2007 BookSense Reading Group Pick and won the 2006 Bookies Award, sponsored by the Contra Costa Library, for the Book Club Book of the Year. He is also the author of the thought-provoking fantasy novel Time and Chance. In addition to novels, he has w...more

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Trivia About Honolulu

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Quotes from Honolulu

“Hawai'i is not truly the idyllic paradise of popular songs--islands of love and tranquility, where nothing bad ever happens. It was and is a place where people work and struggle, live and die, as they do the world over.” — 4 people liked it

“It is not just the history of the Hawaiian islands but the significance of the ordinary people whose lives - many quite extraordinary - make up that history.” — 2 people liked it

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Honolulu

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