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Moloka'i #2
Daughter of Moloka'i
This companion tale to Moloka'i 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.
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.
309 pages, ebook
First published February 19, 2019
2585 people are currently reading
29712 people want to read
About the author
Alan Brennert
75 books2,200 followersAlan Brennert is the author of the historical novels Palisades Park, Honolulu (chosen one of the best books of 2009 by The Washington Post), and Moloka'i, which won the 2006 Bookies Award, sponsored by the Contra Costa Library, for the Book Club Book of the Year (and has sold over 600,000 copies since publication). It was also a 2012 One Book, One San Diego selection. He has won an Emmy Award and a People's Choice Award for his work as a writer-producer on the television series L.A. Law, and his short story "Ma Qui" was honored with a Nebula Award. His new novel, Daughter of Moloka'i, will be published by St. Martin's Press on February 19, 2019. Follow him on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/alan.brennert.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 2,387 reviews
February 13, 2021
This is Alan Brennert's sequel to his 2004 book Moloka'i. I've not read Moloka'i and it's not necessary to do so in order to read and enjoy Daughter of Moloka'i, but I'll be reading Moloka'i soon, as soon as my heart settles and absorbs what I read in this book. I knew some things about the internment of the Japanese or anyone with Japanese blood, on United States soil, during World War II, but I really didn't know what it was like or see the faces or know the names. This book gives me greater insight into how very wrong and horrible this was for this to happen to law abiding, loyal, hardworking, Americans and future Americans who lost so much, often everything, during this time of unjust imprisonment.
But this book is about much more than that particular time. It's about the life of Ruth, the daughter of Hawaiian Rachael and her Japanese husband, both quarantined at the isolated leprosy settlement of Kalaupapa, who had to give up Ruth, within hours of her birth. Ruth didn't know why she had been given up until decades later, when she received letter from her birth mother, hoping to meet her or at least to hear Ruth's voice. The book might seem slow to others, the action is not that of a thriller despite so much going on in the world of Ruth, but what she and her family and friends endured was lived one day at a time and I could feel the long days of sadness, worry, and amazement that their country would do such things to them.
At the age of five, Ruth was able to leave the Kapi'olani Home for Girls in Honolulu when she was adopted by a Japanese couple with three young sons. We learn so much about both the Japanese and later, Hawaiian cultures, and the love of these people for nature, history, family, land, honor, life and death. Ruth has a very strong connection to animals and the book starts with this connection, carries it throughout the book, and then ends with this connection. I couldn't write this review until a day after I finished this book because I couldn't stop crying when I would try to even think of how to write down the words I wanted to say, and it was that animal connection that brought out the tears. Know that his book shows the love of life, of animals, and nature with it's treatment of all those things.
The love between family members and their friends, the strong sense of honor that led to very hard decisions, the pride of these people that allowed them to live full lives even during internment, and the humbleness of these people, who upon release from the camps, realizing the horrors inflicted on Jewish people in the concentration camps, knowing they could have endured so much worse than they did...all these things are full of love, forgiveness, sadness and hope. I know that sentence is too long but this book is so full of emotions for me, I can't put all my thoughts and feeling for it, on this page.
The real heart of this story though, is the love Ruth has for her family despite sometimes chafing under the traditions and also not feeling a compete part of her family because she was only half Japanese. Later, when she meets her birth mother, she meets her other half and the two parts come together. The love both mothers have for her and the respect they have for the other mother, is what shows that this world always has hope when we can treat each other with the love that these women show to others, not exactly like them.
Published February 19th 2019
This is my honest review and I thank St. Martin's Press and NetGalley for this Advance Read Copy.
But this book is about much more than that particular time. It's about the life of Ruth, the daughter of Hawaiian Rachael and her Japanese husband, both quarantined at the isolated leprosy settlement of Kalaupapa, who had to give up Ruth, within hours of her birth. Ruth didn't know why she had been given up until decades later, when she received letter from her birth mother, hoping to meet her or at least to hear Ruth's voice. The book might seem slow to others, the action is not that of a thriller despite so much going on in the world of Ruth, but what she and her family and friends endured was lived one day at a time and I could feel the long days of sadness, worry, and amazement that their country would do such things to them.
At the age of five, Ruth was able to leave the Kapi'olani Home for Girls in Honolulu when she was adopted by a Japanese couple with three young sons. We learn so much about both the Japanese and later, Hawaiian cultures, and the love of these people for nature, history, family, land, honor, life and death. Ruth has a very strong connection to animals and the book starts with this connection, carries it throughout the book, and then ends with this connection. I couldn't write this review until a day after I finished this book because I couldn't stop crying when I would try to even think of how to write down the words I wanted to say, and it was that animal connection that brought out the tears. Know that his book shows the love of life, of animals, and nature with it's treatment of all those things.
The love between family members and their friends, the strong sense of honor that led to very hard decisions, the pride of these people that allowed them to live full lives even during internment, and the humbleness of these people, who upon release from the camps, realizing the horrors inflicted on Jewish people in the concentration camps, knowing they could have endured so much worse than they did...all these things are full of love, forgiveness, sadness and hope. I know that sentence is too long but this book is so full of emotions for me, I can't put all my thoughts and feeling for it, on this page.
The real heart of this story though, is the love Ruth has for her family despite sometimes chafing under the traditions and also not feeling a compete part of her family because she was only half Japanese. Later, when she meets her birth mother, she meets her other half and the two parts come together. The love both mothers have for her and the respect they have for the other mother, is what shows that this world always has hope when we can treat each other with the love that these women show to others, not exactly like them.
Published February 19th 2019
This is my honest review and I thank St. Martin's Press and NetGalley for this Advance Read Copy.
March 9, 2020
Update: $1.99 kindle special today! It’s a great follow up to Molokai!
I read the novel “Moloka’i”, when it first came out in 2004, before I joined Goodreads. It’s incredibly special to me!
It was my ‘gift-of- choice’- many times! Instead of a bottle of wine when invited to friends homes for dinner - I brought Moloka’i, as a gift for the hostess.
So, given that Moloka’i is one of my favorite ‘special’ heartfelt books ....when I started “Daughter of Moloka’i”, I was excited - but worried that it couldn’t possibly have the same magic that Moloka’i did.
I began my journey reading and turning pages.
....For the entire first half of the book, I ‘was enjoying the characters -but often felt I knew what was coming next. The predictability didn’t bother me - but I knew I had two concerns: My biggest was that this book wouldn’t have ‘the magic’ that Moloka’i did. See how concerned I was? ....This is my second time mentioning my desire for the *MAGIC .....(melting/floating/dreamlike/heaven on earth/ love//love/love quality), that Moloka’i had.
And honestly ( lots of honesty in this review), it didn’t have it....*YET*. Not for the first half.
Plus I had another worry. I feared I ‘knew’ too much about the subject matter in “Daughter of Moloka’i” - ( speaking of the historical history):
(Japanese immigrants during WW II - and the injustice of internment)
....whereas, when I read Molokai, I didn’t know anything about leprosy.
In both novels, the history was horrific injustice.
But.... OH MY GOSH...I KID YOU NOT... and I was a hard ass cookie - coming at this book with a critical eye - as in “don’t mess with ‘my’ Moloka’i’....( you can laugh now - for being too overly dramatic and possessive)....BUT I TURNED INTO MUSH TWICE - then a THIRD time when I was talking to Paul in bed this morning. I was a wet sloppy noodle. Emotionally...this book got to me. Especially around the themes between mothers and daughters. As a mother myself - I have often asked myself the question, what is it I would like to most pass on to my daughters?
Mother’s: beware..... you might cry once or twice.
Commercial Break:
Note to the Author: Alan, when it comes to YOU ...and ANY BOOK with HAWAII in it.....I should know by now - Your book “Honolulu” was FANTASTIC, too...and it had MAGIC .....that ‘it’ quality you do SO WELL....
.......that I will NEVER DOUBT YOU AGAIN.
Any time you write a book about Hawaii —- it’s MAGICAL!!! You can’t do anything less!
Back to “Daughter of Moloka’i”:
So, something change for me about half way into my reading...( we ‘do’ need the story in the first half though), this went from a good book, likable, to simply wonderful!!!!! Just like when you make a new friend, you might see a lot of qualities you admire, but it’s not the same as when that ‘something’ clicks. An intimacy has bonded you. I became deeper invested in the story the more I read and the characters became like family to me.
I felt pride -thankful that Alan wrote ‘this’ novel.....setting parts of it in my city. We have a lot of Japanese American history here in San Jose. Japantown, itself is a thriving community.
Manzanar, located in Inyo County, - near the foot of the Sierra, Nevada in California, is one of ten American concentration camps where over 110,000 Japanese-Americans were interned during World War II from December 1942 to 1945. You learn more about this first hand - experientially through the storytelling. Horrible unfair times!
We take an engaging beautiful & bittersweet journey with Ruth starting from when she was separated from her mother at birth. Ruth’s temperament and personality begins to take shape very young. She loves animals passionately her entire life. She’s a precocious strong-willed little girl who grows up to be a remarkable independent- gracious - wife - mother - and career/ mother ( by choice). A great daughter - friend. She’s outspoken and stands for civil rights.....for all justice - empowering her own daughters wishes as well. She’s a modern thinking woman -as she was as a child before she even understood herself.
The hotel Sainte Claire- ( right downtown here in San Jose) - is where Ruth is reunited with her birth mother Rachel. For 32 years she was angry at this strange woman, because she never understood why her birth mother didn’t want her. She’s about to find out.
The Sainte Claire was one of finest hotels in San Jose in the 1920s ( when it was built) …Even today- One of the oldest hotels in our city - it’s still gorgeous.
Ruth’s husband Frank, is a great man - their children are lovely too. The Japanese culture of honor - fidelity- and humbleness is inspiring. Ruth’s adopted parents are wonderful... things that happen are horrific- but this family sticks together.
It’s when Ruth meets her mother for the first time at the Sainte Claire, when I was on the edge of having tears for the rest of the book. Sobbing tears a couple of times.
Granted I’m extra sensitive these days with some medical problems - but......the writing made me cry!
I haven’t even mentioned parts in Hawaii yet, ....Maui, ....Molokai, etc.
.....Alan Brennert does Hawaiian descriptions brilliantly: You’ll want to be there!!!.....I could picture the banyan trees, the flowers, the glorious colors of the water....those morning skies, rainbows, the lush tropical areas.
Sentences like this gave me goosebumps: “Blue-and black striped butterflyfishes nibbled on plankton on the rocky bottom, as an electric-blue unicornfish munched on a strand of seaweed”.
“Purple mushrooms, black coral, orange scorpionfish”, etc etc.
I get excited just thinking about Hawaii. Paul and spent our honeymoon in Maui and Kawai - 14 days - and last year we bought a condo vacation unit on the beach in Maui. And our daughter will be having her wedding party in Hawaii next year.
We’ve got some Hawaii-attachments.
The way in which Alan wraps this story up - and ties it in with the story we started with “Moloka’i”, back in 2004, has ALL THE QUALITIES I WAS HOPING FOR!!! I’m melting jello.
The magic was in Moloka’i
The magic is in Daughter of Moloka’i
I read the novel “Moloka’i”, when it first came out in 2004, before I joined Goodreads. It’s incredibly special to me!
It was my ‘gift-of- choice’- many times! Instead of a bottle of wine when invited to friends homes for dinner - I brought Moloka’i, as a gift for the hostess.
So, given that Moloka’i is one of my favorite ‘special’ heartfelt books ....when I started “Daughter of Moloka’i”, I was excited - but worried that it couldn’t possibly have the same magic that Moloka’i did.
I began my journey reading and turning pages.
....For the entire first half of the book, I ‘was enjoying the characters -but often felt I knew what was coming next. The predictability didn’t bother me - but I knew I had two concerns: My biggest was that this book wouldn’t have ‘the magic’ that Moloka’i did. See how concerned I was? ....This is my second time mentioning my desire for the *MAGIC .....(melting/floating/dreamlike/heaven on earth/ love//love/love quality), that Moloka’i had.
And honestly ( lots of honesty in this review), it didn’t have it....*YET*. Not for the first half.
Plus I had another worry. I feared I ‘knew’ too much about the subject matter in “Daughter of Moloka’i” - ( speaking of the historical history):
(Japanese immigrants during WW II - and the injustice of internment)
....whereas, when I read Molokai, I didn’t know anything about leprosy.
In both novels, the history was horrific injustice.
But.... OH MY GOSH...I KID YOU NOT... and I was a hard ass cookie - coming at this book with a critical eye - as in “don’t mess with ‘my’ Moloka’i’....( you can laugh now - for being too overly dramatic and possessive)....BUT I TURNED INTO MUSH TWICE - then a THIRD time when I was talking to Paul in bed this morning. I was a wet sloppy noodle. Emotionally...this book got to me. Especially around the themes between mothers and daughters. As a mother myself - I have often asked myself the question, what is it I would like to most pass on to my daughters?
Mother’s: beware..... you might cry once or twice.
Commercial Break:
Note to the Author: Alan, when it comes to YOU ...and ANY BOOK with HAWAII in it.....I should know by now - Your book “Honolulu” was FANTASTIC, too...and it had MAGIC .....that ‘it’ quality you do SO WELL....
.......that I will NEVER DOUBT YOU AGAIN.
Any time you write a book about Hawaii —- it’s MAGICAL!!! You can’t do anything less!
Back to “Daughter of Moloka’i”:
So, something change for me about half way into my reading...( we ‘do’ need the story in the first half though), this went from a good book, likable, to simply wonderful!!!!! Just like when you make a new friend, you might see a lot of qualities you admire, but it’s not the same as when that ‘something’ clicks. An intimacy has bonded you. I became deeper invested in the story the more I read and the characters became like family to me.
I felt pride -thankful that Alan wrote ‘this’ novel.....setting parts of it in my city. We have a lot of Japanese American history here in San Jose. Japantown, itself is a thriving community.
Manzanar, located in Inyo County, - near the foot of the Sierra, Nevada in California, is one of ten American concentration camps where over 110,000 Japanese-Americans were interned during World War II from December 1942 to 1945. You learn more about this first hand - experientially through the storytelling. Horrible unfair times!
We take an engaging beautiful & bittersweet journey with Ruth starting from when she was separated from her mother at birth. Ruth’s temperament and personality begins to take shape very young. She loves animals passionately her entire life. She’s a precocious strong-willed little girl who grows up to be a remarkable independent- gracious - wife - mother - and career/ mother ( by choice). A great daughter - friend. She’s outspoken and stands for civil rights.....for all justice - empowering her own daughters wishes as well. She’s a modern thinking woman -as she was as a child before she even understood herself.
The hotel Sainte Claire- ( right downtown here in San Jose) - is where Ruth is reunited with her birth mother Rachel. For 32 years she was angry at this strange woman, because she never understood why her birth mother didn’t want her. She’s about to find out.
The Sainte Claire was one of finest hotels in San Jose in the 1920s ( when it was built) …Even today- One of the oldest hotels in our city - it’s still gorgeous.
Ruth’s husband Frank, is a great man - their children are lovely too. The Japanese culture of honor - fidelity- and humbleness is inspiring. Ruth’s adopted parents are wonderful... things that happen are horrific- but this family sticks together.
It’s when Ruth meets her mother for the first time at the Sainte Claire, when I was on the edge of having tears for the rest of the book. Sobbing tears a couple of times.
Granted I’m extra sensitive these days with some medical problems - but......the writing made me cry!
I haven’t even mentioned parts in Hawaii yet, ....Maui, ....Molokai, etc.
.....Alan Brennert does Hawaiian descriptions brilliantly: You’ll want to be there!!!.....I could picture the banyan trees, the flowers, the glorious colors of the water....those morning skies, rainbows, the lush tropical areas.
Sentences like this gave me goosebumps: “Blue-and black striped butterflyfishes nibbled on plankton on the rocky bottom, as an electric-blue unicornfish munched on a strand of seaweed”.
“Purple mushrooms, black coral, orange scorpionfish”, etc etc.
I get excited just thinking about Hawaii. Paul and spent our honeymoon in Maui and Kawai - 14 days - and last year we bought a condo vacation unit on the beach in Maui. And our daughter will be having her wedding party in Hawaii next year.
We’ve got some Hawaii-attachments.
The way in which Alan wraps this story up - and ties it in with the story we started with “Moloka’i”, back in 2004, has ALL THE QUALITIES I WAS HOPING FOR!!! I’m melting jello.
The magic was in Moloka’i
The magic is in Daughter of Moloka’i
June 25, 2025
One moment please, while I put the pieces of my shattered heart back together.
Daughter of Moloka'i is a follow-up novel to Brennert's 2004-Book Club sensation, Moloka'i.
This is the sequel I never knew I needed, until I had it in my hands. After reading it, I cannot imagine not knowing the conclusion to Rachel's story. I have never cried so much while reading a book; that's the truth.
It never let up.
That may sound like a negative, but it was actually quite cathartic.
This story follows, Ruth, the girl that Rachel was forced to give up for adoption just hours after she was born. We start with Ruth's life at a Home For Girls in Honolulu and follow her all the way through her adulthood.
Moving from Hawaii to California, with the Japanese family who adopted her, Ruth, lives through some challenging times, including her family's incarceration in a Japanese Interment Camp following the events at Pearl Harbor.
As with other disgraceful periods of modern history, this type of atrocious event is not one you find often in modern fiction.
I knew these interment camps existed, but reading about it from Ruth's perspective was heart-wrenching.
To consider the types of injustices that were suffered upon so many innocent people, it was hard to read, but necessary.
I was asked a while back if you had to read the first book in order to read this one. While I believe that you can read this as a stand-alone, your reading experience can only be enhanced by reading Moloka'i first.
Add to this the fact that Moloka'i stands strong as one of the most beautiful books I have ever read, I don't think you will be disappointed.
If you like sweeping Historical Fiction that explores what it means to live and the strength of family, both blood and found, this is a duology you do not want to miss.
While it broke my heart a million times, I am grateful to have read it.
Thank you so much to the publisher, St. Martin's Press, for providing me with a copy to read and review.
I appreciate the opportunity to share my thoughts and opinions.
April 1, 2019
Daughter of Moloka'I by Alan Brennert is a 2019 St. Martin’s Press publication.
Vivid and poignant, very effective and emotional!
It took me a long time to get around to reading Moloka’i, and I deeply regretted putting it off for so long. However, on the positive side, having read it so close to the publication date of this long anticipated follow up, all the details were still very fresh in my mind. Remembering the many reasons why Ruth was placed for adoption so clearly, experiencing her story first hand, was more touching and heart wrenching and the story felt more powerful and intense.
To recap-
Ruth’s parents were both inflicted with leprosy and lived on the island of Moloka’i in Hawaii. Ruth was free of the disease, but her parents had to give her up so that she could live a full and happy life. Ruth is biracial- part Hawaiian and part Japanese. Her adoptive parents are Japanese, and Ruth is also blessed with having older brothers. Her life is good, her parents love her, but Ruth has to cope with racism and prejudice aimed at her because of her mixed race. She also experienced cultural misogyny and sexism. However, Ruth’s life changes forever, when her parents move from Hawaii to California, hoping to own and work their own land. Sadly, they were misled, and things didn’t work out for them quite the way they planned. However, Ruth grows up, gets married, and starts her own family. However, life as she knows it comes to an abrupt halt when the Japanese invade Pearl Harbor. Ruth and her family are among the many Japanese Americans rounded up and sent to the internment camps. Although she makes the best of the situation, it also leaves her embittered.
Eventually, the story merges with that of Ruth’s mother, Rachel, who is now widowed and declared free of her leprosy. The mother and daughter finally meet and forge a bittersweet relationship.
I strongly urge anyone considering this book to read the first Moloka'i beforehand. The story will not have the same impact if you are not aware of Rachel’s backstory and the hopes she had for Ruth.
The bulk of the story is centered around Ruth’s life in the internment camps and the horrible injustices bestowed on these American citizens. I’m glad this period of history is spoken of more frequently now, and more closely examined.
I never heard a great deal about the plight of the Japanese Americans during world war two, until a little over a decade or so back. It was not a topic that came up frequently, and when it did, it was quickly glossed over.
The more I learned about the conditions of the relocation camps, the way these families were stripped of everything they had worked for, the more mortified I became. This was certainly not a shining moment in US history. Although many years later, some acknowledgments and apologies were eventually forthcoming, and a pittance was given the survivors, it doesn’t come close to compensating for what these people endured and lost.
This is a period in history that should get more exposure, especially in the classroom. While I would like for us to learn from the past and be ever more diligent not to repeat our mistakes, I hold my breath, wondering when- not if- this same exact thing will happen again.
This story personalizes the struggles of those in California who were forced to live in the camps, and once released were forced to start building their lives all over again from scratch. Living through these times, seeing it from Ruth’s perspective certainly gave me pause. Ruth is a strong character, who endured much, felt deep convictions, and although she never fully released her bitterness, her life was enriched by her adoptive family, her husband and children, and eventually, by having the chance to forge a relationship with Rachel.
This novel has an entirely different tone from its predecessor. It’s not as tender, has a sharper edge to it, more befitting of the situation, I suppose. I think Ruth’s character is as sympathetic as Rachel’s, but the era of time the story is written in, as well as the dynamics between Ruth’s adoptive family, which was also quite intense at times, makes the atmosphere heavier and the characters tougher, but equally resilient.
I would caution against starting this one with preconceived notions. Don’t expect the same type of emotional elements, or tragic poignancy as Moloka’i. It is certainly different, but I appreciated it and found it to be a very compelling novel. I must confess, I enjoyed seeing Rachel and Ruth reunited, and although Rachel continued to suffer loss and lingering health issues, she lived a full life, as did Ruth, both women overcoming adversity, getting on with the business of life and living, and appreciating every moment they were alive – and FREE!
4 stars
Vivid and poignant, very effective and emotional!
It took me a long time to get around to reading Moloka’i, and I deeply regretted putting it off for so long. However, on the positive side, having read it so close to the publication date of this long anticipated follow up, all the details were still very fresh in my mind. Remembering the many reasons why Ruth was placed for adoption so clearly, experiencing her story first hand, was more touching and heart wrenching and the story felt more powerful and intense.
To recap-
Ruth’s parents were both inflicted with leprosy and lived on the island of Moloka’i in Hawaii. Ruth was free of the disease, but her parents had to give her up so that she could live a full and happy life. Ruth is biracial- part Hawaiian and part Japanese. Her adoptive parents are Japanese, and Ruth is also blessed with having older brothers. Her life is good, her parents love her, but Ruth has to cope with racism and prejudice aimed at her because of her mixed race. She also experienced cultural misogyny and sexism. However, Ruth’s life changes forever, when her parents move from Hawaii to California, hoping to own and work their own land. Sadly, they were misled, and things didn’t work out for them quite the way they planned. However, Ruth grows up, gets married, and starts her own family. However, life as she knows it comes to an abrupt halt when the Japanese invade Pearl Harbor. Ruth and her family are among the many Japanese Americans rounded up and sent to the internment camps. Although she makes the best of the situation, it also leaves her embittered.
Eventually, the story merges with that of Ruth’s mother, Rachel, who is now widowed and declared free of her leprosy. The mother and daughter finally meet and forge a bittersweet relationship.
I strongly urge anyone considering this book to read the first Moloka'i beforehand. The story will not have the same impact if you are not aware of Rachel’s backstory and the hopes she had for Ruth.
The bulk of the story is centered around Ruth’s life in the internment camps and the horrible injustices bestowed on these American citizens. I’m glad this period of history is spoken of more frequently now, and more closely examined.
I never heard a great deal about the plight of the Japanese Americans during world war two, until a little over a decade or so back. It was not a topic that came up frequently, and when it did, it was quickly glossed over.
The more I learned about the conditions of the relocation camps, the way these families were stripped of everything they had worked for, the more mortified I became. This was certainly not a shining moment in US history. Although many years later, some acknowledgments and apologies were eventually forthcoming, and a pittance was given the survivors, it doesn’t come close to compensating for what these people endured and lost.
This is a period in history that should get more exposure, especially in the classroom. While I would like for us to learn from the past and be ever more diligent not to repeat our mistakes, I hold my breath, wondering when- not if- this same exact thing will happen again.
This story personalizes the struggles of those in California who were forced to live in the camps, and once released were forced to start building their lives all over again from scratch. Living through these times, seeing it from Ruth’s perspective certainly gave me pause. Ruth is a strong character, who endured much, felt deep convictions, and although she never fully released her bitterness, her life was enriched by her adoptive family, her husband and children, and eventually, by having the chance to forge a relationship with Rachel.
This novel has an entirely different tone from its predecessor. It’s not as tender, has a sharper edge to it, more befitting of the situation, I suppose. I think Ruth’s character is as sympathetic as Rachel’s, but the era of time the story is written in, as well as the dynamics between Ruth’s adoptive family, which was also quite intense at times, makes the atmosphere heavier and the characters tougher, but equally resilient.
I would caution against starting this one with preconceived notions. Don’t expect the same type of emotional elements, or tragic poignancy as Moloka’i. It is certainly different, but I appreciated it and found it to be a very compelling novel. I must confess, I enjoyed seeing Rachel and Ruth reunited, and although Rachel continued to suffer loss and lingering health issues, she lived a full life, as did Ruth, both women overcoming adversity, getting on with the business of life and living, and appreciating every moment they were alive – and FREE!
4 stars
January 15, 2019
Around ten years ago, someone in my book club selected Moloka'i as our monthly read. I wasn't sure I'd like the book as I knew very little about Hawaii or leprosy, but it was a chance to learn. By the end of the novel, I was in tears and had scheduled a trip to visit the islands. It was a major hit at our book club meeting and I fondly recalled the book for several years. Last month, I was searching NetGalley to see what was newly released when this book showed in my queue. WHAT, A SEQUEL? I quickly requested it, waited days to find out if I'd be granted the approval, and messaged my former book club members to tell them about it. When I was awarded the book, I moved it up the queue and read it this week. This novel was truly a wonderful read and lived up to the first book; it's a high recommendation from me.
The sequel starts in the 1920s at an orphanage where Ruth, a young girl, has been dropped off by her parents, for adoption. While she didn't have leprosy, Ruth's parents did which meant they couldn't raise her for fear of further spreading the disease. Ruth waited years to be adopted because she's half-Japanese and half-Hawaiin; few potential adopters were interested in taking her with them after a visitation. All Ruth wants is her own pet -- a cow, a dog, anything... but the orphanage can't allow it. One day, a Japanese couple arrive and adopt her. Ruth finds a wonderful home and everything she deserves falls into place -- for a few years. Her adoptive father's brother asks them to move from Hawaii to California to help farm his land. They do, but they find resistance to Japanese by Americans. By the time Pearl Harbor occurred, life for anyone of Japanese descent in mainland America was impacted. Ruth and her entire family, including new husband, Frank, and their two kids, were placed in various relocation camps across the Western US. Pain, death, and regret follow the family for a few years.
As a reader, I came to tears several times, but they also have wonderful moments and relationships that deliver a strong balance in emotional terms. About 2/3 into the book, Ruth receives a letter from her biological mother explaining why she was given up for adoption. Should Ruth meet the woman? Who is she and what is her connection to the characters from the first book in the series? Author Alan Brennert delivers a powerhouse of emotions and history in this sequel which I feel is definitely a parallel match. Not only do we learn about the culture of Hawaii but about Japan in this second installment. To understand what happened to Japanese-Americans in the 30s and 40s was difficult and crushing. It was equally as crushing as the deaths at Pearl Harbor and in WW2 as a result of all the fighting, but the focus here was on those around Ruth and her family.
The book ultimately chronicles Ruth's life from age 3 to 55 when she's grown with her own kids who are beginning to think about marriage in the late 1960s after the Korean War efforts. We walk step-by-step with her as she loses family members, gains new ones, finds her connection to animals in a second life, and understands who she really is. The language in this book, whether it's Hawaiin, Japanese, or American English, is inspiring. It shows the flavor of the world Ruth lived in, both good and bad. At times, I laughed. Others, I teared up. To see a 50-thousand foot version of someone's life throughout the middle of the 20th century during many horrific wars is quite impacting. We learn of a few different things that happened during the first book that we didn't know then, but from a different perspective. We re-visit a few of those scenes again just to make connections. It's quite comforting and eye-opening to learn things that we hadn't know happened to Ruth's family before she was born.
I can't say enough good things about this sequel... perhaps in a few parts it was a tad slow and repetitive, but that's so minor, it didn't bother me. I still give this book a full 5 stars.
The sequel starts in the 1920s at an orphanage where Ruth, a young girl, has been dropped off by her parents, for adoption. While she didn't have leprosy, Ruth's parents did which meant they couldn't raise her for fear of further spreading the disease. Ruth waited years to be adopted because she's half-Japanese and half-Hawaiin; few potential adopters were interested in taking her with them after a visitation. All Ruth wants is her own pet -- a cow, a dog, anything... but the orphanage can't allow it. One day, a Japanese couple arrive and adopt her. Ruth finds a wonderful home and everything she deserves falls into place -- for a few years. Her adoptive father's brother asks them to move from Hawaii to California to help farm his land. They do, but they find resistance to Japanese by Americans. By the time Pearl Harbor occurred, life for anyone of Japanese descent in mainland America was impacted. Ruth and her entire family, including new husband, Frank, and their two kids, were placed in various relocation camps across the Western US. Pain, death, and regret follow the family for a few years.
As a reader, I came to tears several times, but they also have wonderful moments and relationships that deliver a strong balance in emotional terms. About 2/3 into the book, Ruth receives a letter from her biological mother explaining why she was given up for adoption. Should Ruth meet the woman? Who is she and what is her connection to the characters from the first book in the series? Author Alan Brennert delivers a powerhouse of emotions and history in this sequel which I feel is definitely a parallel match. Not only do we learn about the culture of Hawaii but about Japan in this second installment. To understand what happened to Japanese-Americans in the 30s and 40s was difficult and crushing. It was equally as crushing as the deaths at Pearl Harbor and in WW2 as a result of all the fighting, but the focus here was on those around Ruth and her family.
The book ultimately chronicles Ruth's life from age 3 to 55 when she's grown with her own kids who are beginning to think about marriage in the late 1960s after the Korean War efforts. We walk step-by-step with her as she loses family members, gains new ones, finds her connection to animals in a second life, and understands who she really is. The language in this book, whether it's Hawaiin, Japanese, or American English, is inspiring. It shows the flavor of the world Ruth lived in, both good and bad. At times, I laughed. Others, I teared up. To see a 50-thousand foot version of someone's life throughout the middle of the 20th century during many horrific wars is quite impacting. We learn of a few different things that happened during the first book that we didn't know then, but from a different perspective. We re-visit a few of those scenes again just to make connections. It's quite comforting and eye-opening to learn things that we hadn't know happened to Ruth's family before she was born.
I can't say enough good things about this sequel... perhaps in a few parts it was a tad slow and repetitive, but that's so minor, it didn't bother me. I still give this book a full 5 stars.
February 22, 2019
***NOW AVAILABLE***
I had been anxious to read this novel since Molokai was one of my all time favorite books. I think the descriptive writing in this book is just as wonderful as in his previous novels. First the descriptions of Hawaii were breathtaking and it was hard to believe that anyone would want to leave there.
But I’m getting ahead of myself. The story really starts when Ruth a little girl of 8, is living in an orphanage on the islands because her mother was forced to give her up. If you haven’t read the first book you might wonder why, the reason was that she had leprosy. At that time lepers were kept on the separate island of Molokai in an attempt to reduce the spread of the disease, nothing was really known about leprosy then. When a baby was born they were taken into a special home and if they show no signs of disease after one year of age they are put up for adoption.
Little Ruth had almost given up hope of being adopted, she realizes she is different because she has different “eyes” than most of the other kids. She is half Hawaiian and half Japanese. On a wonderful day a Japanese couple arrive and fall in love with Ruth. They have three sons but have always wanted a daughter.
Ruth finally has a home, a real home with love and siblings and her own little space in the flat above her new father’s thriving wood making shop. Her father begins to get letters from his brother in California who would like him and his family to come and share in the ownership of his land, he grows strawberries and grapes. At first her father is uncertain but eventually he moves his family to California. Unfortunately they encounter extreme racism against them and conditions on the land and his brother’s fortune aren’t as they were portrayed.
They begin to farm the land and reap the ever ripening harvest, they are making a go of it and then the unimaginable happens and the Japanese bomb Pearl Harbor. By this time Ruth is married to Frank and they have two children. FDR issues the order that all Japanese will have to relocated away from the West Coast.
They are “relocated” to what is little more than abandoned army barracks, some are even in the stables. Still they try to make the best of the terrible situation, making some friends and fixing up their small space to feel like home. To learn what happened to the Japanese in the 30’s and 40’s is heartbreaking and I kept wondering why this isn’t in children’s history books, maybe it is now but it wasn’t when my daughters went to school.
The book follows Ruth from age 3 to about 55, the good parts and the sad parts. I don’t want to give away any more of the plot. The author delivers another great character driven novel in which we get to know Ruth’s family.
I must admit that I didn’t feel quite the connection to this story as to Molokai. Perhaps it was because in the first book we learn so much about Hawaii and how leprosy is treated along with the incredible nurses and other help who risked their own lives to work among the lepers. This made such a huge impact on my heart. This book I feel is more about the internment camps and I have read several books about them and so wasn’t that much “surprised” about the conditions, etc.
This is still a wonderful read but I would encourage reading Molokai first because there is a lot of background history to learn about Ruth and all of the lepers and how they overcame their afflictions, tried to help others and live in the moments that they had.
I received an ARC of this novel from the publisher through NetGalley
I had been anxious to read this novel since Molokai was one of my all time favorite books. I think the descriptive writing in this book is just as wonderful as in his previous novels. First the descriptions of Hawaii were breathtaking and it was hard to believe that anyone would want to leave there.
But I’m getting ahead of myself. The story really starts when Ruth a little girl of 8, is living in an orphanage on the islands because her mother was forced to give her up. If you haven’t read the first book you might wonder why, the reason was that she had leprosy. At that time lepers were kept on the separate island of Molokai in an attempt to reduce the spread of the disease, nothing was really known about leprosy then. When a baby was born they were taken into a special home and if they show no signs of disease after one year of age they are put up for adoption.
Little Ruth had almost given up hope of being adopted, she realizes she is different because she has different “eyes” than most of the other kids. She is half Hawaiian and half Japanese. On a wonderful day a Japanese couple arrive and fall in love with Ruth. They have three sons but have always wanted a daughter.
Ruth finally has a home, a real home with love and siblings and her own little space in the flat above her new father’s thriving wood making shop. Her father begins to get letters from his brother in California who would like him and his family to come and share in the ownership of his land, he grows strawberries and grapes. At first her father is uncertain but eventually he moves his family to California. Unfortunately they encounter extreme racism against them and conditions on the land and his brother’s fortune aren’t as they were portrayed.
They begin to farm the land and reap the ever ripening harvest, they are making a go of it and then the unimaginable happens and the Japanese bomb Pearl Harbor. By this time Ruth is married to Frank and they have two children. FDR issues the order that all Japanese will have to relocated away from the West Coast.
They are “relocated” to what is little more than abandoned army barracks, some are even in the stables. Still they try to make the best of the terrible situation, making some friends and fixing up their small space to feel like home. To learn what happened to the Japanese in the 30’s and 40’s is heartbreaking and I kept wondering why this isn’t in children’s history books, maybe it is now but it wasn’t when my daughters went to school.
The book follows Ruth from age 3 to about 55, the good parts and the sad parts. I don’t want to give away any more of the plot. The author delivers another great character driven novel in which we get to know Ruth’s family.
I must admit that I didn’t feel quite the connection to this story as to Molokai. Perhaps it was because in the first book we learn so much about Hawaii and how leprosy is treated along with the incredible nurses and other help who risked their own lives to work among the lepers. This made such a huge impact on my heart. This book I feel is more about the internment camps and I have read several books about them and so wasn’t that much “surprised” about the conditions, etc.
This is still a wonderful read but I would encourage reading Molokai first because there is a lot of background history to learn about Ruth and all of the lepers and how they overcame their afflictions, tried to help others and live in the moments that they had.
I received an ARC of this novel from the publisher through NetGalley
March 10, 2019
I don’t think I could anticipate a book more than Daughter of Moloka’i! ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️
The sequel to Moloka’i, it tells Ruth’s story. Ruth is the daughter of Rachel Kalama, quarantined at the leprosy settlement. Rachel was forced to give Ruth away at her birth.
Ruth arrives at the Kapi’olani Home for Girls in Honolulu where her journey in this book begins. It later follows her adoption by a Japanese couple who take her to California. Later, Ruth is married and held in a World War II internment camp.
And most exciting of all, it follows Ruth on the day she receives a letter from a woman named Rachel.
While Ruth and Rachel’s relationship is touched on in Molokai’, Daughter of Moloka’I breathes life into it, rounding it out with so much depth.
Daughter of Moloka’I is a story of mother and daughter, of two strong women who never thought they would meet as they work out their similarities and their differences. Ruth comes of age in a way, finding out about her past and things she never could have known because she was adopted.
Overall, Alan Brennert’s luscious writing brings Hawaii and its culture to life. It also inserts Japanese culture, and is a bittersweet, loving, engaging story of two indomitable women and the building of a relationship.
I received a complimentary copy. All opinions are my own.
My reviews can also be found on my blog: www.jennifertarheelreader.com
The sequel to Moloka’i, it tells Ruth’s story. Ruth is the daughter of Rachel Kalama, quarantined at the leprosy settlement. Rachel was forced to give Ruth away at her birth.
Ruth arrives at the Kapi’olani Home for Girls in Honolulu where her journey in this book begins. It later follows her adoption by a Japanese couple who take her to California. Later, Ruth is married and held in a World War II internment camp.
And most exciting of all, it follows Ruth on the day she receives a letter from a woman named Rachel.
While Ruth and Rachel’s relationship is touched on in Molokai’, Daughter of Moloka’I breathes life into it, rounding it out with so much depth.
Daughter of Moloka’I is a story of mother and daughter, of two strong women who never thought they would meet as they work out their similarities and their differences. Ruth comes of age in a way, finding out about her past and things she never could have known because she was adopted.
Overall, Alan Brennert’s luscious writing brings Hawaii and its culture to life. It also inserts Japanese culture, and is a bittersweet, loving, engaging story of two indomitable women and the building of a relationship.
I received a complimentary copy. All opinions are my own.
My reviews can also be found on my blog: www.jennifertarheelreader.com
February 7, 2019
There are some books and authors you connect with and then there are others that try as you might, just don't bring that connection to fruition.
I know that there are many wonderful reviews of this book, and I surely understand the accolades and the four and five star ratings. As I look back at my reading of Mr Brennert's first book, I see that I also did not rate it more than a three. So perhaps, this author and I just don't make that connection so very important to a satisfying reading.
I appreciate so Ruth's story. What some Japanese people who resided in America, went through was both tragic and a severe case for the evils of racism. In reality, this was the part of the book that I enjoyed reading, because I learned of things I never knew. I also enjoyed the first half of the book as we meet Ruth, her trials as an unwanted girl, born of parents who were lepers, residing in a convent school, and cared for by loving nuns. I loved the fact that she was adopted by a loving couple and eventually brought to California to be raised by her new parents and her new siblings.
So, what was it that fell apart for me? In all honesty, I would have to say that the telling of the story seemed to become bogged down by the wordiness of details. I wanted more showing, more action, and less telling. I found myself skimming, which is never a good sign, and was just not involved in the characters as I so wanted to be.
I know I am pretty much of an outlier of this and Mr Brennert's former book. I know he is well versed in the topics he explores, and I feel bad that a book so loved by others fell short for me.
Thank you to Alan Brennert, St Martin's Press, and NetGalley for a copy of this book for an honest review.
This book is due to be published on February 19, 2019
I know that there are many wonderful reviews of this book, and I surely understand the accolades and the four and five star ratings. As I look back at my reading of Mr Brennert's first book, I see that I also did not rate it more than a three. So perhaps, this author and I just don't make that connection so very important to a satisfying reading.
I appreciate so Ruth's story. What some Japanese people who resided in America, went through was both tragic and a severe case for the evils of racism. In reality, this was the part of the book that I enjoyed reading, because I learned of things I never knew. I also enjoyed the first half of the book as we meet Ruth, her trials as an unwanted girl, born of parents who were lepers, residing in a convent school, and cared for by loving nuns. I loved the fact that she was adopted by a loving couple and eventually brought to California to be raised by her new parents and her new siblings.
So, what was it that fell apart for me? In all honesty, I would have to say that the telling of the story seemed to become bogged down by the wordiness of details. I wanted more showing, more action, and less telling. I found myself skimming, which is never a good sign, and was just not involved in the characters as I so wanted to be.
I know I am pretty much of an outlier of this and Mr Brennert's former book. I know he is well versed in the topics he explores, and I feel bad that a book so loved by others fell short for me.
Thank you to Alan Brennert, St Martin's Press, and NetGalley for a copy of this book for an honest review.
This book is due to be published on February 19, 2019
February 18, 2019
3.5 Stars rounded up to 4.
This book would have never crossed my radar if I hadn't gotten an email from the publisher inviting me to read it. The subject matter didn't particularly lure me in, but the fact that this was a follow-up to a beloved bestseller from years ago intrigued me. It prompted me to pick up the original book "Moloka'i" when I noticed it on a kindle sale. If I was going to read the follow-up, I wanted to experience the original. I'm very glad I did. "Moloka'i" was a wonderful reading experience. When you read a quality book such as this, it certainly raises the bar for what's next to come. Sadly (but not surprisingly), it didn't quite live up to the exquisite level of its predecessor.
To provide a synopsis of the original story, when 7 year old Rachel Kalama contracted leprosy in the late 1800s, she was forcibly removed from her family in Honolulu and sent to a leprosy settlement. She was lovingly raised by Franciscan nuns in an orphanage on Moloka'i. She made the best of her situation and managed to live as normal a life as possible, even marrying a Japanese man and having a child. However, within 24 hours of birth Rachel had to give up her baby, a girl she named Ruth. Babies of lepers were born without disease, but if they remained in contact they were susceptible.
The new book begins with a nun lovingly transporting baby Ruth to an orphanage one windy and rainy night. Ruth grows to be very precocious and has a passion for animals. Before she was adopted, she became aware of a dog who would cry outside the orphanage. She began secreting a portion of her dinner to later feed to the dog outside. There was a cow who would sometimes wander over from a neighboring farm onto the orphanage's property and Ruth would try to befriend it. She got quite a surprise when she pulled on the cow's teat and got raw milk sprayed into her face!
There were disappointments when some families seemed to be interested in Ruth, but decided to adopt someone else. Finally, when Ruth was 5 a couple came by specifically looking for a girl who was Japanese. Ruth's birth mother Rachel was Hawaiian, but her birth father Kenji was Japanese. Therefore, Ruth had Japanese-shaped eyes. Mr. and Mrs. Watanabe already had three sons, but Etsuko could no longer have children and desired a daughter. Ruth was enchanted when she found out that the Watanabes owned a black cat named Mayonaka, which means midnight. The Watanabes owned their own carpentry and construction business in Honolulu in a two-story structure with living quarters upstairs. This was a very brief part of the book because Mr. Taizo Watanabe's older brother Jiro enticed him to emigrate to Florin, California to share in a successful farming business with him.
So, the Watanabe family closes down their carpentry and construction business in Honolulu to emigrate to Florin, California for greater fortunes... only to find that Jiro was dishonest. Jiro's farming business was in financial distress because of mismanagement. Not only did he need the whole Watanabe family to become physical laborers to pick the fruit in the fields, he needed Taizo's financial advice to bring the farm out of the red and into the black. It was cause for rage and anger on Taizo's part that he uprooted his family out of a comfortable and sound financial situation into this mess because of Jiro's lies. However, like in all good books, the characters put their best foot forward to work really hard and make the best out of the situation they find themselves in.
The saddest part of the book was what happened after the attack on Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941. It was World War II, and upon the orders of U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt, Japanese Americans were rounded up and forcibly relocated and incarcerated in internment camps, most of whom lived on the Pacific coast. I found this part of the book most unpleasant and difficult to get through. On the one hand, it was inspiring to read about how the family stuck together as much as possible and through intense cleaning and creative decoration they made the best of an unpleasant housing situation. Also, the men used whatever skills they possessed to work- whether it be farming, food service or journalism. However, it was quite depressing to read about the plight of these Japanese Americans, who were proud to be Americans, having everything they worked for just taken away from them. Once the war was over, they had to start at ground zero once again, their former proprietary concerns lost to them.
As touched upon at the end of the original book "Moloka'i", through the writing of a letter Ruth's birth mother Rachel makes contact. Ruth is now an adult, married and with two children, and had no idea that her birth mother gave her up because she was forced to; because she was a leper. She had no idea that her birth mother loved her so much and thought about her each and every day. She also had no idea that Rachel bought and elaborately wrapped up a present for each and every one of Ruth's birthdays, that had never been able to be given. They now amounted to 35!
So, the book comes full circle with the reunion of Ruth and Rachel, and all of the beautiful emotions that would entail.
The main theme of the book as voiced by Rachel is her dismay at the irony of what happened to Ruth in the internment camps. Her first reaction was, "OH NO!! YOU were supposed to be FREE!!" Having read both of these books, I now see the parallel storylines more clearly than ever- of their trials and tribulations; both families always trying to make the best of the worst situations when government entities are controlling them. These are both very fine books. I just enjoyed the first one a little bit more. You definitely could read this one as a standalone, but I would highly recommend reading them both for a most enriching experience.
Thank you to the publisher St. Martin's Press for providing an advance reader copy via NetGalley.
This book would have never crossed my radar if I hadn't gotten an email from the publisher inviting me to read it. The subject matter didn't particularly lure me in, but the fact that this was a follow-up to a beloved bestseller from years ago intrigued me. It prompted me to pick up the original book "Moloka'i" when I noticed it on a kindle sale. If I was going to read the follow-up, I wanted to experience the original. I'm very glad I did. "Moloka'i" was a wonderful reading experience. When you read a quality book such as this, it certainly raises the bar for what's next to come. Sadly (but not surprisingly), it didn't quite live up to the exquisite level of its predecessor.
To provide a synopsis of the original story, when 7 year old Rachel Kalama contracted leprosy in the late 1800s, she was forcibly removed from her family in Honolulu and sent to a leprosy settlement. She was lovingly raised by Franciscan nuns in an orphanage on Moloka'i. She made the best of her situation and managed to live as normal a life as possible, even marrying a Japanese man and having a child. However, within 24 hours of birth Rachel had to give up her baby, a girl she named Ruth. Babies of lepers were born without disease, but if they remained in contact they were susceptible.
The new book begins with a nun lovingly transporting baby Ruth to an orphanage one windy and rainy night. Ruth grows to be very precocious and has a passion for animals. Before she was adopted, she became aware of a dog who would cry outside the orphanage. She began secreting a portion of her dinner to later feed to the dog outside. There was a cow who would sometimes wander over from a neighboring farm onto the orphanage's property and Ruth would try to befriend it. She got quite a surprise when she pulled on the cow's teat and got raw milk sprayed into her face!
There were disappointments when some families seemed to be interested in Ruth, but decided to adopt someone else. Finally, when Ruth was 5 a couple came by specifically looking for a girl who was Japanese. Ruth's birth mother Rachel was Hawaiian, but her birth father Kenji was Japanese. Therefore, Ruth had Japanese-shaped eyes. Mr. and Mrs. Watanabe already had three sons, but Etsuko could no longer have children and desired a daughter. Ruth was enchanted when she found out that the Watanabes owned a black cat named Mayonaka, which means midnight. The Watanabes owned their own carpentry and construction business in Honolulu in a two-story structure with living quarters upstairs. This was a very brief part of the book because Mr. Taizo Watanabe's older brother Jiro enticed him to emigrate to Florin, California to share in a successful farming business with him.
So, the Watanabe family closes down their carpentry and construction business in Honolulu to emigrate to Florin, California for greater fortunes... only to find that Jiro was dishonest. Jiro's farming business was in financial distress because of mismanagement. Not only did he need the whole Watanabe family to become physical laborers to pick the fruit in the fields, he needed Taizo's financial advice to bring the farm out of the red and into the black. It was cause for rage and anger on Taizo's part that he uprooted his family out of a comfortable and sound financial situation into this mess because of Jiro's lies. However, like in all good books, the characters put their best foot forward to work really hard and make the best out of the situation they find themselves in.
The saddest part of the book was what happened after the attack on Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941. It was World War II, and upon the orders of U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt, Japanese Americans were rounded up and forcibly relocated and incarcerated in internment camps, most of whom lived on the Pacific coast. I found this part of the book most unpleasant and difficult to get through. On the one hand, it was inspiring to read about how the family stuck together as much as possible and through intense cleaning and creative decoration they made the best of an unpleasant housing situation. Also, the men used whatever skills they possessed to work- whether it be farming, food service or journalism. However, it was quite depressing to read about the plight of these Japanese Americans, who were proud to be Americans, having everything they worked for just taken away from them. Once the war was over, they had to start at ground zero once again, their former proprietary concerns lost to them.
As touched upon at the end of the original book "Moloka'i", through the writing of a letter Ruth's birth mother Rachel makes contact. Ruth is now an adult, married and with two children, and had no idea that her birth mother gave her up because she was forced to; because she was a leper. She had no idea that her birth mother loved her so much and thought about her each and every day. She also had no idea that Rachel bought and elaborately wrapped up a present for each and every one of Ruth's birthdays, that had never been able to be given. They now amounted to 35!
So, the book comes full circle with the reunion of Ruth and Rachel, and all of the beautiful emotions that would entail.
The main theme of the book as voiced by Rachel is her dismay at the irony of what happened to Ruth in the internment camps. Her first reaction was, "OH NO!! YOU were supposed to be FREE!!" Having read both of these books, I now see the parallel storylines more clearly than ever- of their trials and tribulations; both families always trying to make the best of the worst situations when government entities are controlling them. These are both very fine books. I just enjoyed the first one a little bit more. You definitely could read this one as a standalone, but I would highly recommend reading them both for a most enriching experience.
Thank you to the publisher St. Martin's Press for providing an advance reader copy via NetGalley.
February 5, 2019
4.5 Stars
As this story begins, we are taken to the Kapi’olani Home for Girls, a home to some fifty-eight girls from the youngest who were not quite yet two years old, to the oldest at twenty-one. With the night nurse sick, Louisa is covering her shift, and as much as she’s appreciating the beauty wrought by Nature’s storm outside, she is sensitive to the younger ones fears of the noise of the storm. It is on this night that another sister arrives at the door, with a young infant girl in her arms. The child’s name is Ruth Utagawa, and she has been brought over from Kalaupapa, a Hawaiian leper colony, where she was taken from her mother after her birth to avoid her contracting leprosy, as her mother had.
As the years pass, families come to visit the children, and some are adopted, but Ruth is passed by for her mixed heritage, her mother Hawaiian, her father Japanese. That is until the Watanabes, a Japanese family who have sons, but no daughter, decide to adopt Ruth and soon after move to Northern California, where they help run and co-own a farm producing strawberries in Florin, a small town in the 1920s when this begins, about 10 miles southeast of Sacramento. There is a slightly more subtle prejudice against the Japanese, already, but when Japan attacks Pearl Harbor this family’s life changes almost overnight.
Having been to almost every location mentioned in this story, Maui, Kauai, Oahu, Kalaupapa, the location of the former Tanforan Racetrack, to some of the locations of the Japanese-American “camps” which “housed” some of those confined, to the mention of Hotel Sainte Claire (since renamed the Westin San Jose), one of those grand 1920s era buildings registered on the National Register of Historic Places, made this so much easier for me to envision the story, but this story would have moved me, regardless.
Ruth is a woman who begins life under such heartbreaking circumstances that these trials she faces would bring most to their knees, but she faces them without it breaking her spirit completely. As the years pass and her life story slowly unveils itself a little at a time, the bittersweet moments are overshadowed by moments of joy, leaving her with some heartwarming memories as the years pass and a sense of hope for the future.
I haven’t read Alan Brennert’s, Moloka’i – although I plan to now that I’ve finished reading this – so I can’t say if it’s better to read it beforehand or not, but this story stands on its own without reading Moloka’I, the first in this series.
Pub Date: 19 Feb 2019
Many thanks for the ARC provided by St. Martin’s Press
As this story begins, we are taken to the Kapi’olani Home for Girls, a home to some fifty-eight girls from the youngest who were not quite yet two years old, to the oldest at twenty-one. With the night nurse sick, Louisa is covering her shift, and as much as she’s appreciating the beauty wrought by Nature’s storm outside, she is sensitive to the younger ones fears of the noise of the storm. It is on this night that another sister arrives at the door, with a young infant girl in her arms. The child’s name is Ruth Utagawa, and she has been brought over from Kalaupapa, a Hawaiian leper colony, where she was taken from her mother after her birth to avoid her contracting leprosy, as her mother had.
As the years pass, families come to visit the children, and some are adopted, but Ruth is passed by for her mixed heritage, her mother Hawaiian, her father Japanese. That is until the Watanabes, a Japanese family who have sons, but no daughter, decide to adopt Ruth and soon after move to Northern California, where they help run and co-own a farm producing strawberries in Florin, a small town in the 1920s when this begins, about 10 miles southeast of Sacramento. There is a slightly more subtle prejudice against the Japanese, already, but when Japan attacks Pearl Harbor this family’s life changes almost overnight.
Having been to almost every location mentioned in this story, Maui, Kauai, Oahu, Kalaupapa, the location of the former Tanforan Racetrack, to some of the locations of the Japanese-American “camps” which “housed” some of those confined, to the mention of Hotel Sainte Claire (since renamed the Westin San Jose), one of those grand 1920s era buildings registered on the National Register of Historic Places, made this so much easier for me to envision the story, but this story would have moved me, regardless.
Ruth is a woman who begins life under such heartbreaking circumstances that these trials she faces would bring most to their knees, but she faces them without it breaking her spirit completely. As the years pass and her life story slowly unveils itself a little at a time, the bittersweet moments are overshadowed by moments of joy, leaving her with some heartwarming memories as the years pass and a sense of hope for the future.
I haven’t read Alan Brennert’s, Moloka’i – although I plan to now that I’ve finished reading this – so I can’t say if it’s better to read it beforehand or not, but this story stands on its own without reading Moloka’I, the first in this series.
Pub Date: 19 Feb 2019
Many thanks for the ARC provided by St. Martin’s Press
May 16, 2024
Since I loved reading the print version of Moloka'i, I was thrilled when I found Daughter of Moloka'i on Hoopla as an audiobook! I appreciate when authors tell historical fiction stories about a rarely-read-about slice of history.
Positive points:
1. although this book could work as a stand-alone, I think reading Moloka'i first would be more beneficial. I enjoyed how Daughter of Moloka'i continued with Ruth's story, the daughter given up for adoption by Rachel, the main character in Moloka'i;
2. the plot lines involving the orphanage, Ruth's adoption, life in Japanese internment camps and relationships with loved ones, especially between Ruth and her two mothers, were all quite engaging;
3. I especially admired the realistic, heartwarming characterizations of Ruth's mothers, Rachel (Hawaiian) and Etsuko (Japanese);
4. the descriptions of the Hawaiian landscape as well as the Japanese internment camps were impressive; and,
5. I loved learning more about the Hawaiian and Japanese cultures, as well as the history involving the Japanese people living in California during the Great Depression and WWII, when they were forced to live in internment camps.
A couple negative points:
1. about 75% into the story, the plot began to get long winded and redundant and could have been somewhat edited; and,
2. I was put off several times by this audiobook's narrator (I probably would have preferred the print version!)
Overall, I highly recommend this book, especially for historical fiction fans.
Positive points:
1. although this book could work as a stand-alone, I think reading Moloka'i first would be more beneficial. I enjoyed how Daughter of Moloka'i continued with Ruth's story, the daughter given up for adoption by Rachel, the main character in Moloka'i;
2. the plot lines involving the orphanage, Ruth's adoption, life in Japanese internment camps and relationships with loved ones, especially between Ruth and her two mothers, were all quite engaging;
3. I especially admired the realistic, heartwarming characterizations of Ruth's mothers, Rachel (Hawaiian) and Etsuko (Japanese);
4. the descriptions of the Hawaiian landscape as well as the Japanese internment camps were impressive; and,
5. I loved learning more about the Hawaiian and Japanese cultures, as well as the history involving the Japanese people living in California during the Great Depression and WWII, when they were forced to live in internment camps.
A couple negative points:
1. about 75% into the story, the plot began to get long winded and redundant and could have been somewhat edited; and,
2. I was put off several times by this audiobook's narrator (I probably would have preferred the print version!)
Overall, I highly recommend this book, especially for historical fiction fans.
March 28, 2021
A stunningly beautiful continuation of the first book. The author is incredibly talented with his ability to imbibe such emotion into his stories, and his dedication to the accuracy of history and culture is something all writers should aspire to.
July 22, 2019
Daughter of Moloka’i is the sequel to Alan Brennart’s novel, Molaka’i. Sequels are a unique writing genre; highly anticipated, highly scrutinized and highly debated. There are few novels and their sequels that achieve equally plaudits.
Knowing this, I felt a sense of trepidation when I began reading Daughter of Molaka’i. Within a few pages, the trepidation was gone. The hours that I spent reading the novel have turned to images in my memory that will last a lifetime.
Beginning at age three, Brennart tells the story of Ruth, daughter of Rachael, a leprosy victim. Rachael had the disease, but Ruth also suffered its consequences. Torn from her mother and placed in an orphanage in Honolulu, Ruth struggles as other girls are placed in families while she remains behind. Finally joy enters her life when a Japanese family adopts her and eventually move to California. With insight into human emotion, Brennart takes us thru Ruth’s life: thru teenage years to marriage to the internment in a World War II camp. But yet for Ruth there is more in her continuing life: a letting from her birth mother, Rachael.
Possibly Brennart’s greatest gift to the novel is his ability to deeply and deftly describe the places and people so that we are transported to that time and local. We emotionally connect with Ruth. We feel her sadness, we celebrate her joy and fulfillment. We won’t forget her. You can’t ask for more than that in a novel. I received an advance copy of this book from NetGalley. #NetGalley #DaughterofMolokai
Knowing this, I felt a sense of trepidation when I began reading Daughter of Molaka’i. Within a few pages, the trepidation was gone. The hours that I spent reading the novel have turned to images in my memory that will last a lifetime.
Beginning at age three, Brennart tells the story of Ruth, daughter of Rachael, a leprosy victim. Rachael had the disease, but Ruth also suffered its consequences. Torn from her mother and placed in an orphanage in Honolulu, Ruth struggles as other girls are placed in families while she remains behind. Finally joy enters her life when a Japanese family adopts her and eventually move to California. With insight into human emotion, Brennart takes us thru Ruth’s life: thru teenage years to marriage to the internment in a World War II camp. But yet for Ruth there is more in her continuing life: a letting from her birth mother, Rachael.
Possibly Brennart’s greatest gift to the novel is his ability to deeply and deftly describe the places and people so that we are transported to that time and local. We emotionally connect with Ruth. We feel her sadness, we celebrate her joy and fulfillment. We won’t forget her. You can’t ask for more than that in a novel. I received an advance copy of this book from NetGalley. #NetGalley #DaughterofMolokai
November 17, 2022
Alan Brennert books are always beautifully written literary journeys that cover heartbreaking subject matter. I devoured his Honolulu and Molokai and here, we see what happened to the baby Rachel was forced to give up because of leprosy and rules imposed in Hawaii to spread the control of the disease at the turn of the 20th century. In this sequel, we follow Rachel’s daughter Ruth from her time in an orphanage to her adoption by Japanese parents in Hawaii, through their move to California, experiences with racism and subsequent interment in camps during WW2. The story goes on for several decades after, showing lovely times and hard ones. Like everything Brennert writes, it’s slow-paced, lovely and poignant. I was thrilled to step back into this world for a little while and see what became of these beloved characters.
July 17, 2018
I am so angry. I posted a review on 7/6 of the only text edition here, ISBN: 7=978-250-13766-1. The edition and my likes and at least 17 comments are gone, missing. I read a paperback advance readers' edition.
Re-posting on 7/7:
I���m deeply grateful to Danielle Prielipp from the book’s publisher, St. Martin’s Press, for contacting me and offering me this advance readers’ copy in exchange for an honest review. The book is not due to be on sale until 2019/02/19 and I was delighted to receive my copy so far in advance, late in the day on 2018/07/02. I was thrilled to have this opportunity because the first book Moloka’i is one of my favorite books. I’m always worried when I receive a copy for review, afraid I won’t like the book, but the anxiety I felt was worth it, and thankfully I also loved this sequel.
This book can be read as a standalone but I highly recommend reading Moloka’i first and then reading this book. I think doing that will make for a much richer reading experience. I do plan to get the hardcover edition and at some point I’d love to reread the two books consecutively.
I was worried because I’d read the first book over seven years ago and figured I’d forgotten a lot, and I had, but some of my memories came back, and the author did a great job of giving more than adequate background of what had happened in the earlier book. Still I’m glad to have read the first book first. It took me only a part of the first chapter to become fully immersed in the story and its characters.
It’s not a long book but it manages to feel like a saga, and I love sagas. So much is covered, and in a long timeline, including many people, relationships, and animals play an important role too.
This book made me laugh and it broke my heart and it warmed my heart.
I love this author’s writing style and compelling storytelling. It’s amazing how in so few words he can give characters and relationships such complexity and how well he interweaves them all with the many locales and with important historical events. I was so pleased what great senses of humor are exhibited by these people; they made me laugh. Everything feels so immediate, not just the people and events, but also the scenery, the food, the cultures, the places. I felt as though I was there: in all of the times and places.
Until I read this book I hadn’t realized how important it was to me to get reacquainted with Rachel and to learn about the rest of her story, and how wonderful it was to get to know Ruth, and other people too. I absolutely adored young animal loving, funny, smart, endearing Ruth and would have never hesitated to adopt her myself, and I loved watching her grow up and to see the woman she becomes. I love so much about this family including . It’s an incredibly good coming of age story.
Some of the locations were local or near local for me so of particular interest to me. I’d only happened to learn fairly recently about the Tanforan detention facility (very near to me! – it’s now a shopping center) though I’ve known about Manzanar and the other concentration camps from an early age. This part of American history being incorporated into this story was genius, and sobering, particularly with the United States’ current administration, made all the more powerful for me because I was reading this book over July 4th, Independence Day. Even though I’ve read a lot of WWII books, I learned a lot from this historical fiction novel. There have always been some things to despise about some people and some things that the United States has done.
I find it flabbergasting but not only did I learn more about life in Manzanar and the inhumane and barbaric treatment of those with Japanese ancestry during the war, but somehow I learned about a plethora of other subject matter: Hawaiian and Japanese language and culture, certain farming practices, how life was in earlier decades, and so much more. I was horrified to learn some of the things that were done, including how some current local place names honor some people who do not deserve that honor.
I was right to add this to my dogs bookshelf when I was still early on in the book. Not for the first time I thought perhaps I should have a cats shelf.
I was deeply touched by the familial relationships and friendships. Lack of family and close families seem so understood in these pages.
I was near tears for many of the last pages and the last line had me in tears. Just beautiful!
This is mostly a well-written book. There were just a few lines that I found clumsy but only one of them took me out of the story: I thought that the last sentence in chapter 5 was laughably awful, and I hope it will be tweaked before the very final edition is published. (If it it had been the first sentence of the book it could be a contender in the Bulwer-Lytoon Fiction Contest (http://www.bulwer-lytton.com/ - www means Wretched Writers Welcome), but that sentence was VERY different from the rest of the writing in the book, I think, and so an anomaly. I will tell the publisher my opinion about it, though maybe I am wrong and being too harsh and maybe others will think it’s a great line?) That line and those other few less important lines, and the fact that rarely but more than once the narrative slightly veered into “education” and out of a perfectly natural flow to the story, almost had me deduct a half star and give it 4-1/2 vs. 5 stars, but in the end the book was good enough for me to give it 5 full stars. I was completely sucked into the characters, the relationships, the locales, the history, and the tale as a whole.
The Epilogue is a fine and important section, and I’ll be adding many of the mentioned books to my to read shelf.
This is a must read book for readers who enjoyed the book Moloka’i! I also highly recommend it/both books for readers who would like to read more about racism, Hansen’s Disease, WWII in the United States, American history especially pertaining to Hawaii and California, anyone who enjoys historical fiction books, anyone who enjoys coming of age books, and people who love dogs and cats and other animals, , and those who are interested in what we remember and what we forget.
There are many quotable lines. My favorite might be: “marveled at how two souls - two completely different species - could make each other so happy. If you were kind to animals, they repaid that kindness a thousandfold. People disappointed; animals never did.”
Edited to Add: I do have to add that it’s remarkable how true to themselves the characters and their relationships stay throughout their lifetimes. Also that I’m thinking of Moloka’I and this book as one long story.
Edited to Add, again: This book is a stellar book about the immigrant experience. For any reader interested in the subject, it’s a must read book.
Re-posting on 7/7:
I���m deeply grateful to Danielle Prielipp from the book’s publisher, St. Martin’s Press, for contacting me and offering me this advance readers’ copy in exchange for an honest review. The book is not due to be on sale until 2019/02/19 and I was delighted to receive my copy so far in advance, late in the day on 2018/07/02. I was thrilled to have this opportunity because the first book Moloka’i is one of my favorite books. I’m always worried when I receive a copy for review, afraid I won’t like the book, but the anxiety I felt was worth it, and thankfully I also loved this sequel.
This book can be read as a standalone but I highly recommend reading Moloka’i first and then reading this book. I think doing that will make for a much richer reading experience. I do plan to get the hardcover edition and at some point I’d love to reread the two books consecutively.
I was worried because I’d read the first book over seven years ago and figured I’d forgotten a lot, and I had, but some of my memories came back, and the author did a great job of giving more than adequate background of what had happened in the earlier book. Still I’m glad to have read the first book first. It took me only a part of the first chapter to become fully immersed in the story and its characters.
It’s not a long book but it manages to feel like a saga, and I love sagas. So much is covered, and in a long timeline, including many people, relationships, and animals play an important role too.
This book made me laugh and it broke my heart and it warmed my heart.
I love this author’s writing style and compelling storytelling. It’s amazing how in so few words he can give characters and relationships such complexity and how well he interweaves them all with the many locales and with important historical events. I was so pleased what great senses of humor are exhibited by these people; they made me laugh. Everything feels so immediate, not just the people and events, but also the scenery, the food, the cultures, the places. I felt as though I was there: in all of the times and places.
Until I read this book I hadn’t realized how important it was to me to get reacquainted with Rachel and to learn about the rest of her story, and how wonderful it was to get to know Ruth, and other people too. I absolutely adored young animal loving, funny, smart, endearing Ruth and would have never hesitated to adopt her myself, and I loved watching her grow up and to see the woman she becomes. I love so much about this family including . It’s an incredibly good coming of age story.
Some of the locations were local or near local for me so of particular interest to me. I’d only happened to learn fairly recently about the Tanforan detention facility (very near to me! – it’s now a shopping center) though I’ve known about Manzanar and the other concentration camps from an early age. This part of American history being incorporated into this story was genius, and sobering, particularly with the United States’ current administration, made all the more powerful for me because I was reading this book over July 4th, Independence Day. Even though I’ve read a lot of WWII books, I learned a lot from this historical fiction novel. There have always been some things to despise about some people and some things that the United States has done.
I find it flabbergasting but not only did I learn more about life in Manzanar and the inhumane and barbaric treatment of those with Japanese ancestry during the war, but somehow I learned about a plethora of other subject matter: Hawaiian and Japanese language and culture, certain farming practices, how life was in earlier decades, and so much more. I was horrified to learn some of the things that were done, including how some current local place names honor some people who do not deserve that honor.
I was right to add this to my dogs bookshelf when I was still early on in the book. Not for the first time I thought perhaps I should have a cats shelf.
I was deeply touched by the familial relationships and friendships. Lack of family and close families seem so understood in these pages.
I was near tears for many of the last pages and the last line had me in tears. Just beautiful!
This is mostly a well-written book. There were just a few lines that I found clumsy but only one of them took me out of the story: I thought that the last sentence in chapter 5 was laughably awful, and I hope it will be tweaked before the very final edition is published. (If it it had been the first sentence of the book it could be a contender in the Bulwer-Lytoon Fiction Contest (http://www.bulwer-lytton.com/ - www means Wretched Writers Welcome), but that sentence was VERY different from the rest of the writing in the book, I think, and so an anomaly. I will tell the publisher my opinion about it, though maybe I am wrong and being too harsh and maybe others will think it’s a great line?) That line and those other few less important lines, and the fact that rarely but more than once the narrative slightly veered into “education” and out of a perfectly natural flow to the story, almost had me deduct a half star and give it 4-1/2 vs. 5 stars, but in the end the book was good enough for me to give it 5 full stars. I was completely sucked into the characters, the relationships, the locales, the history, and the tale as a whole.
The Epilogue is a fine and important section, and I’ll be adding many of the mentioned books to my to read shelf.
This is a must read book for readers who enjoyed the book Moloka’i! I also highly recommend it/both books for readers who would like to read more about racism, Hansen’s Disease, WWII in the United States, American history especially pertaining to Hawaii and California, anyone who enjoys historical fiction books, anyone who enjoys coming of age books, and people who love dogs and cats and other animals, , and those who are interested in what we remember and what we forget.
There are many quotable lines. My favorite might be: “marveled at how two souls - two completely different species - could make each other so happy. If you were kind to animals, they repaid that kindness a thousandfold. People disappointed; animals never did.”
Edited to Add: I do have to add that it’s remarkable how true to themselves the characters and their relationships stay throughout their lifetimes. Also that I’m thinking of Moloka’I and this book as one long story.
Edited to Add, again: This book is a stellar book about the immigrant experience. For any reader interested in the subject, it’s a must read book.
February 18, 2019
4.5 stars rounded up to 5
Having read Alan Brennert’s masterpiece Moloka’i (published back in 2004) for the first time just last month – a book whose story and characters I fell head over heels in love with – I went into the sequel Daughter of Moloka’i with extremely high anticipation. I knew that this second book would be about Ruth – the daughter that Rachel had been forced to give up in the original story – and also that it would expand upon the reunion scene as well as Ruth and Rachel’s subsequent 22 year relationship that were all only briefly mentioned in the first book. What I wasn’t expecting was that this part of the story (the connection back to Moloka’i and Rachel’s story) would only be covered in less than a third of the book. Perhaps it was because the story in Moloka’i had done such a number on my heart and Rachel as well as the other characters in there were so memorable and beloved to me, to the point that I was expecting that connection to play a more central role in the sequel. Don’t get me wrong though….I’m not saying that I’m disappointed because I’m truly not, as the story in Daughter of Moloka’i was still beautifully rendered and the historical significance of everything that had happened during World War II – specifically, in this case, the Japanese internment camps across the U.S. and the suffering across the board during the war – was well-depicted in a story that was necessary to be told. I also grew to love Ruth and all the other characters in this story and just like with Moloka’i , I found this to be a hugely emotional read – one that made me cry but also made me smile at certain parts, a story that covered similar themes of family, love, and strength in the face of adversity. Brennert also did a fantastic job incorporating the various aspects of Japanese culture into the story, which I definitely appreciated given that I wasn’t too familiar with the culture and so was able to greatly expand my knowledge after reading this book.
With all that said, the best way to describe my feelings toward this book is this: taken on its own merit, this was an excellent read, and if it had been a standalone novel with no connection to a previous story, I would absolutely rate it 5 stars without question….but as a sequel to the exquisite, beloved, “one-of-a-kind” Moloka’i (now officially on my “favorites of all-time” list), I have to admit that this one fell a tad bit short for me in terms of how long it took to re-connect with Rachel’s story. Once that reconnection was made though, it was absolutely perfect! The way Brennert wrapped up Rachel’s story and intertwined it with Ruth’s in the end was wonderful and quite frankly, it turned my heart to mush all over again. In the end, I decided to give this one 4.5 stars rounded up to 5 because for me, Moloka’i had what I can only describe as a “magical” quality to it that made it such a special read (one that I can’t stop thinking about even now) and while Daughter of Moloka’i was wonderful in its own right, it didn’t quite replicate that “magic” for me, at least not until the last third of the book. Regardless though, this sequel is still a “must-read,” especially for those who read the first book.
And here is where my opinion differs from most of the other reviewers: this is one of those sequels where I feel that knowing the backstory makes a world of difference. While yes, it’s true that this can technically be read as a “standalone” for those who choose to do so, I strongly recommend reading Moloka’i first before attempting this one, as there is too much important background information about Rachel and what she went through in the first story that impacts Ruth’s story, to the point that, I feel, it’s impossible to experience the full effect of this story without that one. For me, I’m tremendously glad that I got the chance to read both books in order…not only that, I now also have yet another “favorite author” to add to my ever-growing list. I look forward to reading whatever historical novel Brennert chooses to write next – I just hope we don’t have to wait another 15 years for it!
Received ARC from St. Martin’s Press via NetGalley
Having read Alan Brennert’s masterpiece Moloka’i (published back in 2004) for the first time just last month – a book whose story and characters I fell head over heels in love with – I went into the sequel Daughter of Moloka’i with extremely high anticipation. I knew that this second book would be about Ruth – the daughter that Rachel had been forced to give up in the original story – and also that it would expand upon the reunion scene as well as Ruth and Rachel’s subsequent 22 year relationship that were all only briefly mentioned in the first book. What I wasn’t expecting was that this part of the story (the connection back to Moloka’i and Rachel’s story) would only be covered in less than a third of the book. Perhaps it was because the story in Moloka’i had done such a number on my heart and Rachel as well as the other characters in there were so memorable and beloved to me, to the point that I was expecting that connection to play a more central role in the sequel. Don’t get me wrong though….I’m not saying that I’m disappointed because I’m truly not, as the story in Daughter of Moloka’i was still beautifully rendered and the historical significance of everything that had happened during World War II – specifically, in this case, the Japanese internment camps across the U.S. and the suffering across the board during the war – was well-depicted in a story that was necessary to be told. I also grew to love Ruth and all the other characters in this story and just like with Moloka’i , I found this to be a hugely emotional read – one that made me cry but also made me smile at certain parts, a story that covered similar themes of family, love, and strength in the face of adversity. Brennert also did a fantastic job incorporating the various aspects of Japanese culture into the story, which I definitely appreciated given that I wasn’t too familiar with the culture and so was able to greatly expand my knowledge after reading this book.
With all that said, the best way to describe my feelings toward this book is this: taken on its own merit, this was an excellent read, and if it had been a standalone novel with no connection to a previous story, I would absolutely rate it 5 stars without question….but as a sequel to the exquisite, beloved, “one-of-a-kind” Moloka’i (now officially on my “favorites of all-time” list), I have to admit that this one fell a tad bit short for me in terms of how long it took to re-connect with Rachel’s story. Once that reconnection was made though, it was absolutely perfect! The way Brennert wrapped up Rachel’s story and intertwined it with Ruth’s in the end was wonderful and quite frankly, it turned my heart to mush all over again. In the end, I decided to give this one 4.5 stars rounded up to 5 because for me, Moloka’i had what I can only describe as a “magical” quality to it that made it such a special read (one that I can’t stop thinking about even now) and while Daughter of Moloka’i was wonderful in its own right, it didn’t quite replicate that “magic” for me, at least not until the last third of the book. Regardless though, this sequel is still a “must-read,” especially for those who read the first book.
And here is where my opinion differs from most of the other reviewers: this is one of those sequels where I feel that knowing the backstory makes a world of difference. While yes, it’s true that this can technically be read as a “standalone” for those who choose to do so, I strongly recommend reading Moloka’i first before attempting this one, as there is too much important background information about Rachel and what she went through in the first story that impacts Ruth’s story, to the point that, I feel, it’s impossible to experience the full effect of this story without that one. For me, I’m tremendously glad that I got the chance to read both books in order…not only that, I now also have yet another “favorite author” to add to my ever-growing list. I look forward to reading whatever historical novel Brennert chooses to write next – I just hope we don’t have to wait another 15 years for it!
Received ARC from St. Martin’s Press via NetGalley
February 17, 2019
I do realize that my opinion and review is totally outlier. I totally respect all the 4 and 5 star reviews that are out there, but that was not my experience with this book and I cannot, in good faith, write a review that matches the masses when that is not my experience.
I L O V E D Moloka'i. Loved it. What a beautiful, lush, amazing book. I was completely captivated from the first page and while I have loved Hawaii for years [my grandparent's took multiple trips there and always brought us back gifts and stories and several of my favorite books are set there and one of the first biographies I ever read as a young girl was about the last Queen of Hawaii], but I actually knew little about Moloka'i and Kalaupapa and all that went on for the poor people who developed Leprosy. So while it was an amazing book, it was also educational and made me want to book a trip to Hawaii to be able to and pay my respects to the people that suffered and lived there.
Fast forward to Daughter of Moloka'i [which, in all fairness, was not even on my radar. My bestie read Moloka'i and then found out about the sequel and
To quote my friend Joy Walsh "I believe Brennert likes Rachel much more than he likes Ruth." and I agree with that. The story of Rachel just flows and sucks you in while the story of Ruth feels like its being forced and seems flat and disingenuous until she meets Rachel and when they are back in Hawaii and then, and ONLY then, does the story begin to flow again. All the time in California is very flat and one dimensional. Even the time spent in the interment camps [and I have read 4 books before this about that time - it is HORRIFIC and should absolutely have never happened and is a huge stain on this country that we are still dealing and healing from - IF you want an excellent book about this time, I suggest "When the Emperor Was Divine" by Julie Otsuka or IF you can find it {I found one copy on Thriftbooks, but I have seen it in the Reader's Digest version on eBay} "East and West" by Gerald Green <--THAT was the first book I read about the Japanese Interments and as a young girl I was absolutely and completely horrified] was bland - tepid. For all the research the author did on this time in history, there is little evidence of it in what and how he writes about that time and that is very disappointing. I am sure that just as I knew nothing about Moloka'i and Kalaupapa, there are people who know nothing of that time in our history and this would have been an amazing opportunity to shed some true light on what happened during that time and instead you get a tepid and bland experience. And then you get a totally gimmicky [and it is not the first time in the book that gimmicky writing is used] end and that was totally disappointing as well.
It is always disappointing when you get a sequel to a book you loved and that sequel falls flat. That is absolutely what happened for me here. No book hangover. No even thinking about the book. Just relief that the book is done and I can move on. And that, makes me very sad.
Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin Press for providing this ARC in exchange for an honest review.
December 28, 2021
After enjoying Moloka’i very much, I decided to read Ruth’s story. Ruth was Rachel Utagawa’s daughter. Rachael was a very young child when she was shipped off to The island of Molaka’i. Rachel spent most of her time quarantined at the settlement at Kalaupapa. When Ruth was born Rachel had to give her up she was not allowed to keep her beautiful daughter. Rachel and Ruth’s father who was Japanese where heartbroken. Every year on Ruth’s birthday they wrapped a special gift for her.
Ruth was sent to the Kapi’olani Home fir girls. At the age of five Ruth was adopted by. Japanese couple. They eventually moved to California for a better life. Later she marries, after WW II, her whole world is turned upside town.
Being Japanese Ruth, her husband and her two children are sent to Manzanar Relocation center. This was a concentration camp for Japanese Americans.
While all this has happened Ruth is never told the truth about her mother, She never knew her mother had leprosy.
Ruth finally received a letter from her mother.
This was Ruth’s story, it is well written and very compelling. I just felt I was more engaged into the first book.
Ruth was sent to the Kapi’olani Home fir girls. At the age of five Ruth was adopted by. Japanese couple. They eventually moved to California for a better life. Later she marries, after WW II, her whole world is turned upside town.
Being Japanese Ruth, her husband and her two children are sent to Manzanar Relocation center. This was a concentration camp for Japanese Americans.
While all this has happened Ruth is never told the truth about her mother, She never knew her mother had leprosy.
Ruth finally received a letter from her mother.
This was Ruth’s story, it is well written and very compelling. I just felt I was more engaged into the first book.
January 30, 2021
Another incredible book by Brennert. A moving story of love, loss, injustice, survival, and unbreakable family bonds Highly emotional throughout but especially at the end.
Besides continuing the story of Moloka'i, it digs into the very painful experience of Japanese Americans growing up in California during WWII. This is a very sad moment for our country!
I highly recommend reading this historically balanced book but suggest reading Moloka'i first for balance.
Besides continuing the story of Moloka'i, it digs into the very painful experience of Japanese Americans growing up in California during WWII. This is a very sad moment for our country!
I highly recommend reading this historically balanced book but suggest reading Moloka'i first for balance.
July 17, 2019
I read and re-read Moloka'i, by Alan Brennert, for book club and was thrilled when our members felt the same way about the story as I did. I have yet to come across an author who not only writes heart breaking yet heart warming stories but also the wonderfully artistic way he depicts the beauty that are his settings.
Daughter of Moloka'i is the sequel to Moloka'i that tells the story of Ruth, the daughter that Rachel Kalama was forced to give up at birth, in the original story.
A beautifully written heartfelt sequel which allows us to visit familiar characters and meet new ones.
Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for an arc of this novel in exchange for my honest review.
Daughter of Moloka'i is the sequel to Moloka'i that tells the story of Ruth, the daughter that Rachel Kalama was forced to give up at birth, in the original story.
A beautifully written heartfelt sequel which allows us to visit familiar characters and meet new ones.
Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for an arc of this novel in exchange for my honest review.
February 20, 2019
Daughter of Moloka’i is the anticipated follow-up to Alan Brennert’s highly successful, book club favorite Moloka’i, the evocative story of Rachel, a woman with leprosy who is forced to surrender her child, Ruth, upon birth. This is Ruth’s story.
Daughter of Moloka’i is told in three very distinct parts: Ruth’s life after she is removed from the leper colony, adopted and her subsequent move to the states; her time spent in an internment camp during WWII, and then her life after the war ends. Brennert’s prose is atmospheric and descriptive which allows the reader to embrace a sense of both the Hawaiian and Japanese cultures as well as the horrors of the depression and war. However, there are times that a bit of self-editing would have gone long way. Like William Faulkner, Brennert suffers from the need to use 15 words when one very well placed adjective would suffice. This resulted in the book dragging in several places. In addition, it has been stated in pre-publication reviews that this book works as a stand-alone. It doesn’t, not really. If you’ve read the first book I can understand that you might think so. If you have not read the first book, you will find yourself trying to fill several story gaps.
I appreciate other readers’ rave review for this one. It is a lovely book but not one that I savored or can fully recommend.
Thank you to #netgalley and St. Martin’s Press for the opportunity to read and review Daughter of Moloka’i.
Daughter of Moloka’i is told in three very distinct parts: Ruth’s life after she is removed from the leper colony, adopted and her subsequent move to the states; her time spent in an internment camp during WWII, and then her life after the war ends. Brennert’s prose is atmospheric and descriptive which allows the reader to embrace a sense of both the Hawaiian and Japanese cultures as well as the horrors of the depression and war. However, there are times that a bit of self-editing would have gone long way. Like William Faulkner, Brennert suffers from the need to use 15 words when one very well placed adjective would suffice. This resulted in the book dragging in several places. In addition, it has been stated in pre-publication reviews that this book works as a stand-alone. It doesn’t, not really. If you’ve read the first book I can understand that you might think so. If you have not read the first book, you will find yourself trying to fill several story gaps.
I appreciate other readers’ rave review for this one. It is a lovely book but not one that I savored or can fully recommend.
Thank you to #netgalley and St. Martin’s Press for the opportunity to read and review Daughter of Moloka’i.
July 14, 2019
Daughter of Moloka’i is the sequel to Alan Brennart’s novel, Molaka’i. Sequels are a unique writing genre; highly anticipated, highly scrutinized and highly debated. There are few novels and their sequels that achieve equally plaudits.
Knowing this, I felt a sense of trepidation when I began reading Daughter of Molaka’i. Within a few pages, the trepidation was gone. The hours that I spent reading the novel have turned to images in my memory that will last a lifetime.
Beginning at age three, Brennart tells the story of Ruth, daughter of Rachael, a leprosy victim. Rachael had the disease, but Ruth also suffered its consequences. Torn from her mother and placed in an orphanage in Honolulu, Ruth struggles as other girls are placed in families while she remains behind. Finally joy enters her life when a Japanese family adopts her and eventually move to California. With insight into human emotion, Brennart takes us thru Ruth’s life: thru teenage years to marriage to the internment in a World War II camp. But yet for Ruth there is more in her continuing life: a letting from her birth mother, Rachael.
Possibly Brennart’s greatest gift to the novel is his ability to deeply and deftly describe the places and people so that we are transported to that time and local. We emotionally connect with Ruth. We feel her sadness, we celebrate her joy and fulfillment. We won’t forget her. You can’t ask for more than that in a novel. I received an advance copy of this book from NetGalley. #NetGalley #DaughterofMolokai
Knowing this, I felt a sense of trepidation when I began reading Daughter of Molaka’i. Within a few pages, the trepidation was gone. The hours that I spent reading the novel have turned to images in my memory that will last a lifetime.
Beginning at age three, Brennart tells the story of Ruth, daughter of Rachael, a leprosy victim. Rachael had the disease, but Ruth also suffered its consequences. Torn from her mother and placed in an orphanage in Honolulu, Ruth struggles as other girls are placed in families while she remains behind. Finally joy enters her life when a Japanese family adopts her and eventually move to California. With insight into human emotion, Brennart takes us thru Ruth’s life: thru teenage years to marriage to the internment in a World War II camp. But yet for Ruth there is more in her continuing life: a letting from her birth mother, Rachael.
Possibly Brennart’s greatest gift to the novel is his ability to deeply and deftly describe the places and people so that we are transported to that time and local. We emotionally connect with Ruth. We feel her sadness, we celebrate her joy and fulfillment. We won’t forget her. You can’t ask for more than that in a novel. I received an advance copy of this book from NetGalley. #NetGalley #DaughterofMolokai
August 29, 2020
I liked the sequel to Brennert's Moloka'i better than the original. He develops great characters and does an admirable job describing the beauty of Hawaii, the daily grind of farmers or the specter of racism. This book was not as depressing as the original. It follows the story of Rachel's daughter, Ruth, who Rachel gives up so she can lead a "normal" life; however, in the Catholic orphanage she wonders why her mother did not want her and is teased about being a halo (half Hawaiian, half Japanese), bonding with animals willing to provide unconditional love. Then, her whole world changes when she is adopted and loved by a hard-working Japanese family. They move to California to become half owners of a farm, only to find themselves in debt. Ruth falls in love with a diner owner and is happily married only to be herded into Japanese internment camp, following the Pearl Harbor attack in 1941. The entire family suffers the indignities of poverty and imprisonment, leading to heartache. Yet, their strong bonds carry them through and Ruth accidentally reads a letter from her birth mother to her Japanese mother, and eventually they unite in the final third of the book, appropriately named o'hana.
June 27, 2018
I worked with the author on verifying historical facts, linguistic and cultural terms, so I read the advance original manuscript. i was knocked out by Alan's gift--how he makes you feel the essence of every character and puts you in their shoes. This sweeping epic covers 54 years from 1916 to 1970 and takes you from Honolulu to Northern California to the Japanese American concentration camps of World War II (where 120,000 loyal immigrants and citizens were interned for 3-4 years simply because of their race, not for anything they had actually done), Ruth and her family's struggle to get back on their feet, and Ruth's attempts to reconcile her ethnic background.
And the last sentence of the book is pure perfection. I cannot recommend "Daughter Of Moloka'i" more highly.
And the last sentence of the book is pure perfection. I cannot recommend "Daughter Of Moloka'i" more highly.
July 15, 2020
Alan Brennert. MOLOKAJO SALOS DUKRA.
Po tokio kūrinio net ir vyno taurė, rodos, nepastebimai išnyko. Reikėjo pirmų dešimties puslapių, kad būčiau uzurpuotas romano. Pasakojimas tarsi šiltas vandenėlis sroveno pro mano akis, kūną ir mintis. Negalėjau atsitraukti taip ilgai, jog kūnui teko kentėti – stovėjau kelias valandas parke, nejudėjau iš vietos. Tik rankas miklinau versdamas puslapis po puslapio.
Pirmoji asociacija. Pradžioje, pirmoje knygos pusėje prisiminiau knygos „Erškėčių paukščiai“ konkrečią vietą – kai yra persikeliama į Australiją. Toks pažįstamas, gaivališkas, bet kiek ir trikdantis panašumas. Ir, netgi pačiam keista, žiupsnis „Vienuolės paslapties“ istorijos.
MOLOKAJO SALOS DUKRA. Pasakojimas yra pernelyg turtingas, kad galėčiau jį sudėlioti į kelias pastraipas. Tai istorinis tekstas. Tai šeimų-kartų istorija. Tai skirtingų kultūrų egzistavimas. Tai skirtingos kalbos, skirtingi pomėgiai, skirtingi tikėjimai, bet visus vienijanti meilė ir elementarus žmogiškumas.
„ATOMINĖ BOMBA PRAŽUDĖ 150 000 ŽMONIŲ“
Pasinarstęs po istorinį šioje knygoje esantį laikmetį, likau nustebęs. Įsivaizduokite, galite stebėti tai, kas vyksta Europoje II Pasaulinio karo metu iš kito žemyno – už vandenyno. Visai kitas matymo pozicija ir matomas vaizdas. O kai Japonija užpuolė Perl Harborą – kokios nuotaikos vyravo JAV? Kas nutiko, ko mes (aš tai tikrai) nežinojome. Net nesupratau, kad tam tikros tautybės žmonės galėjo kentėti ir nukentėti JAV. Mokykloje buvo kalbama tik apie Europą, kokia tuomet buvo Europa. Kas nutiko milžiniškai tos tautybės daliai, koks tuomet buvo prezidentas bei jo sprendimai, ką teko ištverti ir su kuo teko susitaikyti, kaip buvo pamintos žmogaus teisės. Ir tai dar ne viskas. Juk po Perl Harboro sekė Hirošimos ir Nagasakio „radioaktyvusis grybas“.
„Tą vakarą ji paslėpė pyktį giliai savyje ir užsitempė ant veido tokią tvirtą kaukę, kad ji net dusino.“
Susipažinau su Havajų gamta, žmonėmis, papročiais ir kiek pramokau svetimą kalbą. Nemažai laiko praleidau maigydamas telefoną, kuriame ieškojau salelių, gatvelių, kelių, kalnelių ir kitų istorijoje pasakojamų vietovių. Nesuprantu savo baimės važiuoti aukštais skardžiais, bet daugiausiai laiko naršydamas internete praleidau ieškodamas tos kelio atkarpos, po kurios pagrindinės veikėjos vyrui reikėjo išgerti alaus. Gerai, kad nepasirinko kelio, kuriuo būtų reikėję išgerti tris alaus.
Raupsuotieji. Jie turi milžinišką įtaką šiam kūriniui ir tam, koks jis buvo. Visada maniau, kad tai liga, kuri buvo pavojinga daug daug seniau, kai dar nebuvo pakvipę praėjusiu šimtmečiu. Kvaila buvo taip manyti. Baimė buvo apėmusi visus. Gydymas netaikomas arba bandomieji triušiai. Paliekami likimo valiai. Išvaizda netenka prasmės. Kova už gyvybę tampa niekinė. Atimami vaikai. Skaudus randas visuomenėje ir rykštė istorijoje.
„ – Nesitikiu tave suprasiant, Dai, – švelniai tarė Taizas. – Tu amerikietė. Ir nepuoselėju vilties, kad kas nors man pritars ar seks paskui mane.“
Viena širdis, bet kelios skirtingos kultūros. Nors daugelis gali su manimi nesutikti, nes liūdnų ir neteisingų akimirkų istorijoje yra nemažai, tačiau pats manau, kad knyga yra neapsakomai pakylėjanti. Tai kelių kultūrų ir tradicijų susitikimas. Visas pasakojimas yra tarsi žinutė apie tai, kad mes galime sugyventi harmonijoje. Tai yra įmanoma, tik reikia turėti blaivią galvą ir nepaminti elementaraus žmogiškumo, kuris nėra būdingas vienai ar kitai tautybei. Tai – bendražmogiška. Geriau suprasite mane, kai perskaitysite susitikimo vietą – kai yra uždedamas vainikas.
„ – Mūsų Mansanaro angelėlis. Mums reikėjo tavęs tiek pat, kiek tau reikėjo mūsų.“
Dėka šios knygos prisiminiau žodį harmonija. Harmonija įvykių sukūry, harmonija su žmonėmis, harmonija su pačiu savimi ir harmonija su supančia aplinka, ypač fauna ir flora. Kaip subtiliai knygos autorius karts nuo karto mesteli kokį gyvūną, augalą ir sukuria tam tikrą stiprybės simboliką. Stiprybė, kurios reikia mums, žmonėms, nes jie ir be mūsų gali išgyventi, tačiau mums be jų būtų ypatingai sunku. Karvės, šunys, katės, augalai ir daug daug kitų yra stiprybė, meilė, pusiausvyra, ramybė.
Beje, knygoje gausu kitų kalbų intarpų. Dažnu atveju mane tai erzintų, tačiau šiuo atveju tai buvo labai praturtinantis sprendimas, kuris sukurė absoliučią magiją. Antroje knygos pusėje jaučiausi ypatingai – tarsi dalimi to, ko niekada nebuvau dalimi. Ir ko niekada nebūčiau galėjęs tapti dalimi. Kažkaip šventiška ir sakralu, pasirodė labai įtaigu ir tinkama. Tapau/buvau jų dalimi.
Rekomenduoju. Netgi labai. Skaitydamas jaučiausi labai jaukiai. Pasakojimas buvo mezgamas kaip megztinis, kurio kiekviena detalė buvo ypatingai svarbi ir sudrebindavo, iššaukdavo tą žmogiškumą, tą empatiją, tą ašarą, tą džiaugsmą ir laimę. Tai knyga, kupina moralinės stiprybės, vertybių tvirtumo, baimės nebuvimas keičiantis, savęs pačios pažinimo, savo ištakų, įskiepio daryti tai, kas gerai, rodyti pavyzdį. Harmonijos.
Po tokio kūrinio net ir vyno taurė, rodos, nepastebimai išnyko. Reikėjo pirmų dešimties puslapių, kad būčiau uzurpuotas romano. Pasakojimas tarsi šiltas vandenėlis sroveno pro mano akis, kūną ir mintis. Negalėjau atsitraukti taip ilgai, jog kūnui teko kentėti – stovėjau kelias valandas parke, nejudėjau iš vietos. Tik rankas miklinau versdamas puslapis po puslapio.
Pirmoji asociacija. Pradžioje, pirmoje knygos pusėje prisiminiau knygos „Erškėčių paukščiai“ konkrečią vietą – kai yra persikeliama į Australiją. Toks pažįstamas, gaivališkas, bet kiek ir trikdantis panašumas. Ir, netgi pačiam keista, žiupsnis „Vienuolės paslapties“ istorijos.
MOLOKAJO SALOS DUKRA. Pasakojimas yra pernelyg turtingas, kad galėčiau jį sudėlioti į kelias pastraipas. Tai istorinis tekstas. Tai šeimų-kartų istorija. Tai skirtingų kultūrų egzistavimas. Tai skirtingos kalbos, skirtingi pomėgiai, skirtingi tikėjimai, bet visus vienijanti meilė ir elementarus žmogiškumas.
„ATOMINĖ BOMBA PRAŽUDĖ 150 000 ŽMONIŲ“
Pasinarstęs po istorinį šioje knygoje esantį laikmetį, likau nustebęs. Įsivaizduokite, galite stebėti tai, kas vyksta Europoje II Pasaulinio karo metu iš kito žemyno – už vandenyno. Visai kitas matymo pozicija ir matomas vaizdas. O kai Japonija užpuolė Perl Harborą – kokios nuotaikos vyravo JAV? Kas nutiko, ko mes (aš tai tikrai) nežinojome. Net nesupratau, kad tam tikros tautybės žmonės galėjo kentėti ir nukentėti JAV. Mokykloje buvo kalbama tik apie Europą, kokia tuomet buvo Europa. Kas nutiko milžiniškai tos tautybės daliai, koks tuomet buvo prezidentas bei jo sprendimai, ką teko ištverti ir su kuo teko susitaikyti, kaip buvo pamintos žmogaus teisės. Ir tai dar ne viskas. Juk po Perl Harboro sekė Hirošimos ir Nagasakio „radioaktyvusis grybas“.
„Tą vakarą ji paslėpė pyktį giliai savyje ir užsitempė ant veido tokią tvirtą kaukę, kad ji net dusino.“
Susipažinau su Havajų gamta, žmonėmis, papročiais ir kiek pramokau svetimą kalbą. Nemažai laiko praleidau maigydamas telefoną, kuriame ieškojau salelių, gatvelių, kelių, kalnelių ir kitų istorijoje pasakojamų vietovių. Nesuprantu savo baimės važiuoti aukštais skardžiais, bet daugiausiai laiko naršydamas internete praleidau ieškodamas tos kelio atkarpos, po kurios pagrindinės veikėjos vyrui reikėjo išgerti alaus. Gerai, kad nepasirinko kelio, kuriuo būtų reikėję išgerti tris alaus.
Raupsuotieji. Jie turi milžinišką įtaką šiam kūriniui ir tam, koks jis buvo. Visada maniau, kad tai liga, kuri buvo pavojinga daug daug seniau, kai dar nebuvo pakvipę praėjusiu šimtmečiu. Kvaila buvo taip manyti. Baimė buvo apėmusi visus. Gydymas netaikomas arba bandomieji triušiai. Paliekami likimo valiai. Išvaizda netenka prasmės. Kova už gyvybę tampa niekinė. Atimami vaikai. Skaudus randas visuomenėje ir rykštė istorijoje.
„ – Nesitikiu tave suprasiant, Dai, – švelniai tarė Taizas. – Tu amerikietė. Ir nepuoselėju vilties, kad kas nors man pritars ar seks paskui mane.“
Viena širdis, bet kelios skirtingos kultūros. Nors daugelis gali su manimi nesutikti, nes liūdnų ir neteisingų akimirkų istorijoje yra nemažai, tačiau pats manau, kad knyga yra neapsakomai pakylėjanti. Tai kelių kultūrų ir tradicijų susitikimas. Visas pasakojimas yra tarsi žinutė apie tai, kad mes galime sugyventi harmonijoje. Tai yra įmanoma, tik reikia turėti blaivią galvą ir nepaminti elementaraus žmogiškumo, kuris nėra būdingas vienai ar kitai tautybei. Tai – bendražmogiška. Geriau suprasite mane, kai perskaitysite susitikimo vietą – kai yra uždedamas vainikas.
„ – Mūsų Mansanaro angelėlis. Mums reikėjo tavęs tiek pat, kiek tau reikėjo mūsų.“
Dėka šios knygos prisiminiau žodį harmonija. Harmonija įvykių sukūry, harmonija su žmonėmis, harmonija su pačiu savimi ir harmonija su supančia aplinka, ypač fauna ir flora. Kaip subtiliai knygos autorius karts nuo karto mesteli kokį gyvūną, augalą ir sukuria tam tikrą stiprybės simboliką. Stiprybė, kurios reikia mums, žmonėms, nes jie ir be mūsų gali išgyventi, tačiau mums be jų būtų ypatingai sunku. Karvės, šunys, katės, augalai ir daug daug kitų yra stiprybė, meilė, pusiausvyra, ramybė.
Beje, knygoje gausu kitų kalbų intarpų. Dažnu atveju mane tai erzintų, tačiau šiuo atveju tai buvo labai praturtinantis sprendimas, kuris sukurė absoliučią magiją. Antroje knygos pusėje jaučiausi ypatingai – tarsi dalimi to, ko niekada nebuvau dalimi. Ir ko niekada nebūčiau galėjęs tapti dalimi. Kažkaip šventiška ir sakralu, pasirodė labai įtaigu ir tinkama. Tapau/buvau jų dalimi.
Rekomenduoju. Netgi labai. Skaitydamas jaučiausi labai jaukiai. Pasakojimas buvo mezgamas kaip megztinis, kurio kiekviena detalė buvo ypatingai svarbi ir sudrebindavo, iššaukdavo tą žmogiškumą, tą empatiją, tą ašarą, tą džiaugsmą ir laimę. Tai knyga, kupina moralinės stiprybės, vertybių tvirtumo, baimės nebuvimas keičiantis, savęs pačios pažinimo, savo ištakų, įskiepio daryti tai, kas gerai, rodyti pavyzdį. Harmonijos.
February 17, 2019
Release date February 19th!
On December 7, 1941 more than 2,000 Americans lost their lives at Pearl Harbor. In the days that followed, intolerance and prejudice would lead to the ouster and internment of over 100,000 Americans of Japanese heritage.
Alan Brennert does such a fine job of bringing our buried history to light. Where Moloka'i focused on hysteria surrounding leprosy, this second installation bears witness to the Japanese internment camps during WWII. Daughter of Moloka'i, like its predecessor is a sweeping saga that speaks to the resilience of the human spirit. I do not know what took me so long to find my way to Moloka'i but I'm glad that I had the opportunity to read these two books. Both of the protagonists were well developed and their story lines resonate as a warning for our current time. Although either book can easily be read as stand alone novels, I was pleased with how well Daughter of Moloka'i incorporated Rachel's story and allowed the reader to revisit their reunion and see their relationship grow.
Special thanks to NetGalley, St. Martin's Press and Alan Brennert for access to this book.
On December 7, 1941 more than 2,000 Americans lost their lives at Pearl Harbor. In the days that followed, intolerance and prejudice would lead to the ouster and internment of over 100,000 Americans of Japanese heritage.
Alan Brennert does such a fine job of bringing our buried history to light. Where Moloka'i focused on hysteria surrounding leprosy, this second installation bears witness to the Japanese internment camps during WWII. Daughter of Moloka'i, like its predecessor is a sweeping saga that speaks to the resilience of the human spirit. I do not know what took me so long to find my way to Moloka'i but I'm glad that I had the opportunity to read these two books. Both of the protagonists were well developed and their story lines resonate as a warning for our current time. Although either book can easily be read as stand alone novels, I was pleased with how well Daughter of Moloka'i incorporated Rachel's story and allowed the reader to revisit their reunion and see their relationship grow.
Special thanks to NetGalley, St. Martin's Press and Alan Brennert for access to this book.
March 1, 2019
*3-3.5 stars.
The sequel to Moloka'i begins in 1917 with baby Ruth Utagawa being delivered to the Kapi'olani Home for Girls in O'ahu by Sister Catherine Voorheis. Ruth's parents are inmates at the leper colony in Kalaupapa and are not allowed by law to keep their baby. Ruth is part Hawaiian and part Japanese (hapa) and at age five, she comes to be adopted by a Japanese couple, the Watanabes.
Taizo Watanabe is offered land to farm in California by his older brother, Jiro, and the couple is lured there by the chance of a better life. Unfortunately all is not as promised and some harsh realities must be faced. But worst of all is the amount of racial prejudice they encounter.
The years go by, bringing the Depression and the Dust bowl...and then the dark days of WWII and the war hysteria which results in the forced internment in camps of all Japanese people living in America, including the Watanabe family.
This is a moving family saga which shines a light on the tragedy of racial prejudice and its effects on people's lives. And although it is beautifully written and touching, the last half of the book seemed a bit of a never-ending slog to me. Perhaps if I had read Moloka'i first, I might have felt more invested in the characters and the drama of their lives. I'm not entirely convinced families are as accepting and inclusive as these people seemed to be. It would be nice if it were so.
I found myself waiting for the book to bring something new to my understanding of this period of history and was disappointed that it really didn't. I've read several very good books along the same lines that I can highly recommend as well, such as:
Snow Falling on Cedars; Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet; When the Emperor Was Divine; and The Translation of Love, to name a few.
I received an arc from the publisher via NetGalley for my honest review. I appreciate the opportunity.
The sequel to Moloka'i begins in 1917 with baby Ruth Utagawa being delivered to the Kapi'olani Home for Girls in O'ahu by Sister Catherine Voorheis. Ruth's parents are inmates at the leper colony in Kalaupapa and are not allowed by law to keep their baby. Ruth is part Hawaiian and part Japanese (hapa) and at age five, she comes to be adopted by a Japanese couple, the Watanabes.
Taizo Watanabe is offered land to farm in California by his older brother, Jiro, and the couple is lured there by the chance of a better life. Unfortunately all is not as promised and some harsh realities must be faced. But worst of all is the amount of racial prejudice they encounter.
The years go by, bringing the Depression and the Dust bowl...and then the dark days of WWII and the war hysteria which results in the forced internment in camps of all Japanese people living in America, including the Watanabe family.
This is a moving family saga which shines a light on the tragedy of racial prejudice and its effects on people's lives. And although it is beautifully written and touching, the last half of the book seemed a bit of a never-ending slog to me. Perhaps if I had read Moloka'i first, I might have felt more invested in the characters and the drama of their lives. I'm not entirely convinced families are as accepting and inclusive as these people seemed to be. It would be nice if it were so.
I found myself waiting for the book to bring something new to my understanding of this period of history and was disappointed that it really didn't. I've read several very good books along the same lines that I can highly recommend as well, such as:
Snow Falling on Cedars; Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet; When the Emperor Was Divine; and The Translation of Love, to name a few.
I received an arc from the publisher via NetGalley for my honest review. I appreciate the opportunity.
February 19, 2019
What a magical, wonderful book that is my favorite so far this year. This is a beautifully written story with an interesting plot and captivating characters that wraps you in its arms from the beginning. It was so hard to put down.
Ruth is born to parents with parents with leprosy living in the guarded community on Molokai in Hawaii. She is half Hawaiian and half Japanese. She is removed from them almost immediately so she doesn't catch the disease and kept in a children's home until she was 3 when she was sent to an orphanage in Waikiki. She was adopted at age 5 by a wonderful Japanese couple with 3 boys.
The family relocates to Florin, CA to grow strawberries. Florin is near Elk Grove just south of Sacramento. I lived in the area for decades and have had the pleasure of eating strawberries just picked in Florin and they are the best in the world. When I was there in the 1980's they were being grown by Hmongs instead of Japanese but the principle is the same. The entire section made me homesick and nostalgic.
Then Pearl Harbor is bombed and the Japanese in CA. are rounded up and put into internment camps. They were given a week's notice to sell their possessions for pennies on the dollar and make arrangements for pets, etc. Then herded in trains with blinds so people wouldn't see them sent to camps in squalid conditions.
The story of life in these camps would be interesting enough but then there is the rebuilding of their lives once the War is over. The strength and determination is inspiring. It takes an amazing leap with Ruth reuniting with her past.
It is so moving on so many levels and literally transports you to so many emotions. Shame on how we treated the American Japanese, the pride on how people overcome their obstacles and how love comes in so many ways and literally transforms you. I cannot recommend this book more highly.
Thanks to NetGalley for a copy of the book in exchange for a fair review.
Ruth is born to parents with parents with leprosy living in the guarded community on Molokai in Hawaii. She is half Hawaiian and half Japanese. She is removed from them almost immediately so she doesn't catch the disease and kept in a children's home until she was 3 when she was sent to an orphanage in Waikiki. She was adopted at age 5 by a wonderful Japanese couple with 3 boys.
The family relocates to Florin, CA to grow strawberries. Florin is near Elk Grove just south of Sacramento. I lived in the area for decades and have had the pleasure of eating strawberries just picked in Florin and they are the best in the world. When I was there in the 1980's they were being grown by Hmongs instead of Japanese but the principle is the same. The entire section made me homesick and nostalgic.
Then Pearl Harbor is bombed and the Japanese in CA. are rounded up and put into internment camps. They were given a week's notice to sell their possessions for pennies on the dollar and make arrangements for pets, etc. Then herded in trains with blinds so people wouldn't see them sent to camps in squalid conditions.
The story of life in these camps would be interesting enough but then there is the rebuilding of their lives once the War is over. The strength and determination is inspiring. It takes an amazing leap with Ruth reuniting with her past.
It is so moving on so many levels and literally transports you to so many emotions. Shame on how we treated the American Japanese, the pride on how people overcome their obstacles and how love comes in so many ways and literally transforms you. I cannot recommend this book more highly.
Thanks to NetGalley for a copy of the book in exchange for a fair review.
February 19, 2019
**Happy publishing day to this one!
5 teary stars to this one, Alan Brennert is a fantastic storyteller and has created memorable characters
This book is a sequel to “Moloka’i” -- I read it in 2014 (loved it) and I was a bit worried that I’d forgotten too much from that book. Alan Brennert does an excellent job reminding viewers of key elements from that book in just the right places. The author is a fantastic storyteller and has created memorable characters. I do recommend reading these books in order though for the most magical reading experience.
The first half of this book is Ruth’s story, she’s the daughter of Rachel and Kenji from book #1. Raised by nuns, she is eventually adopted by a Japanese family and moves to California. I must admit that I didn’t enjoy the California setting as much as the parts of the book set in Hawaii. There is a great deal of historical material here in the first half about the internment camps, especially the California ones, during WWII. I found this part uncomfortable to read, especially considering our current political climate. The Japanese people were treated abominably in these camps.
I love that Rachel finds her way back into this story and the reader is taken back to Hawaii. There are so many fantastic emotional elements with mothers and daughter in this book and I was brought to tears in a few places. This sweeping saga covers several generations and is well worth a read. I highly recommend it as well as the first book if you haven’t read that one. Now I’m curious if there will be a book #3 in this series.
Thank you to NetGalley, St. Martin's Press, and Alan Brennert for a complimentary copy of the book to read in return for a fair review.
5 teary stars to this one, Alan Brennert is a fantastic storyteller and has created memorable characters
This book is a sequel to “Moloka’i” -- I read it in 2014 (loved it) and I was a bit worried that I’d forgotten too much from that book. Alan Brennert does an excellent job reminding viewers of key elements from that book in just the right places. The author is a fantastic storyteller and has created memorable characters. I do recommend reading these books in order though for the most magical reading experience.
The first half of this book is Ruth’s story, she’s the daughter of Rachel and Kenji from book #1. Raised by nuns, she is eventually adopted by a Japanese family and moves to California. I must admit that I didn’t enjoy the California setting as much as the parts of the book set in Hawaii. There is a great deal of historical material here in the first half about the internment camps, especially the California ones, during WWII. I found this part uncomfortable to read, especially considering our current political climate. The Japanese people were treated abominably in these camps.
I love that Rachel finds her way back into this story and the reader is taken back to Hawaii. There are so many fantastic emotional elements with mothers and daughter in this book and I was brought to tears in a few places. This sweeping saga covers several generations and is well worth a read. I highly recommend it as well as the first book if you haven’t read that one. Now I’m curious if there will be a book #3 in this series.
Thank you to NetGalley, St. Martin's Press, and Alan Brennert for a complimentary copy of the book to read in return for a fair review.
October 2, 2018
I won this book in a goodreads giveaway.Thank you to St. Martins Press. I loved the first book Moloka'i and this did not disappoint. The story is about Rachel's daughter Ruth who she had to give up at birth because of the laws concerning anyone with leprosy who gave birth. Alan Brennert is truly a gifted writer.
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