Moloka'i (Moloka'i, #1) in Reading with Style

Jun 03, 2021 Elizabeth (Alaska) rated it liked it

Shelves: twenty-first-century

Off and on a real tear jerker, this would normally rate much higher for me. It begins brilliantly in 1891 when we learn of 5-year old Rachel Kalama's happy home and family. Soon, however, tragedy strikes when Rachel is found to have a red patch on her thigh, followed by a scaly patch on one foot. Her mother recognized it for leprosy and tried to hide it. But before long the health authorities put her in the hospital, separating Rachel from all of her loved ones for life. Moloka'i is one of the s ...more

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Aug 31, 2009 Athira (Reading on a Rainy Day) rated it it was amazing

Shelves: fiction, source-own, 2010, f-literary, format-print

Seven-year old Rachel Kalama is like any other girl, living with her family in Honolulu. Her father is a merchant seaman who is away from home for months at a time. Her mother works hard to bring up four kids. Rachel and her older sister, Sarah, fight like typical siblings, until one fight turned ugly and Rachel returned home with minor injuries. That's when her mother notices a bleeding rash on her thigh, which Rachel could not feel. Rachel is proud that she isn't complaining (not even feeling) Seven-year old Rachel Kalama is like any other girl, living with her family in Honolulu. Her father is a merchant seaman who is away from home for months at a time. Her mother works hard to bring up four kids. Rachel and her older sister, Sarah, fight like typical siblings, until one fight turned ugly and Rachel returned home with minor injuries. That's when her mother notices a bleeding rash on her thigh, which Rachel could not feel. Rachel is proud that she isn't complaining (not even feeling) an injured spot in her body. But her mother is anxious and worried. She gives the injury a couple of weeks to heal, and when there's been no change, Rachel's parents dress her up in long skirts and shoes to cover the spots. Her mother visits a local doctor privately for help, and Rachel is barred from removing her shoes ever in public (much to Rachel's anger). Until one day, something happens in the school grounds in front of a large crowd that reveals to everyone what is wrong with her. She has leprosy.

Alan Brennert's Moloka'i is a brilliant read. Rachel Kalama is a protagonist anyone would root for. Mostly because she was like the girl next door. She could have been anyone from 19th-20th century Moloka'i. Alan Brennert didn't try to make her some sort of heroine, or keep her safe while everyone around her suffered. Her disease not only shattered her, but also her entire family in a rippling fashion. How does one cope with losing every single person that ever mattered? Over the years, Rachel meets so many people that even we come to love and pray for. And this motley cast of people are not just treated as faceless extras, but have very interesting stories and are molded into respectable characters by Brennert. They have their own place in the book and without overwhelming the reader get their story told too. In the end, I cried for every character in this book.

In addition to the tangible characters of this book, Moloka'i has several other characters - leprosy, the island Moloka'i, and history itself. Through the book, we see how leprosy ravages the people of Moloka'i, both directly and indirectly. Just like in any other community, Rachel makes friends with whom she does several pranks, and has adult figures she respects - a Sister who remains her constant companion, an aunt who treats her like her own daughter, an uncle who loves her a lot. The only difference is that this whole coterie is surrounded by leprosy and thus there is a chance they could die any time. It is one of life's mocking cruelties - to become so close to someone, and then watch that person being taken away the very next day. While some people took to brooding about their disease, most accepted it and became the better for what they were.

Set beginning in the 1890s and going all the way to middle of the twentieth century, this book captures so much of the history that happens during this period - and clearly, this period is one of the richest in terms of its history - two world wars, tons of innovations; in fact, the world in which the book starts and the world in which it ends are so different that it would make you wonder if they were the same book. This history is as significant as the characters of the book, and yet Alan Brennert doesn't ramble about the important events that I've noticed in so many books and found digressing. You almost never notice the history, but rather you feel like you are part of the history itself. You feel the same amazement felt by the characters, almost as if you are watching it too.

When I started reading the book, I expected to come to hate the place called Moloka'i, because of all it stands for. On the other hand, I came to love the place. This bunch of people who were so set apart from the rest of humanity, and also didn't have any part in the innovations that were happening. The rest of the world was moving into the 20th century, while the residents of Moloka'i were still stuck in 19th century with no electricity and feeding on the same standard diet provided by the government for more than 20 years. Without being too wordy or stopping the story to talk about the place, the author slowly but surely builds Moloka'i as a significant character in the background. Moloka'i had a church, a school, a "sanctuary" for girls under the age of eighteen, proper houses for residents, and most importantly, in Moloka'i, nobody ran away from them or looked at them with disgust. On the other hand, this place received what people from other places didn't need anymore, as if indicating that these people have no worth and no place in society, which is how they were treated.

Class was held only three hours each day. The books were old and had DISCARD stamped in red ink on the inside front cover; the crayons were neither as plentiful nor as colorful as those provided at Fort Street School; and the classroom lacked even a globe of the world!

The initial part of this book was hard to read - not in language or interest-factor, but because it was hard reading about a seven-year old girl (and other unluckier girls) forcibly separated from her parents by a disease she wasn't even old enough to comprehend, and sent to Moloka'i, from where no one apparently returns. Her parents knew what Moloka'i meant, and they realized that they may never ever see her again. For victims of leprosy, Moloka'i is understood to be their grave even before they die. But for all the doom and gloom associated with this place, people in Moloka'i knew how to live. They partied, danced, had their own cozy homes, and made best with what they had. At times, I saw a civilization that was far more tolerant and cohesive than people elsewhere. They understood each other at a level other people didn't. While others shunned them as outcasts and looked at them with disgust, the victims gelled well with each other, even though the effects of the disease on each person varied hugely.

It should also be mentioned that so many characters in this book actually existed in reality, and yet this is not nonfiction. I wasn't aware of this at first but the afterword draws clear lines between what was real and what is fiction. Through the course of the book, I came to respect some of those real characters, and it was with a lot of pride that I read their back story. Alan Brennert gives those characters a tribute of the highest order by forever immortalizing them in print for us to read. ...more

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Oct 26, 2013 Jayme(theghostreader) rated it it was amazing

Shelves: 5-star-books, library-books-read, hfu2015ba

I really got into this book. I liked Rachel and I really felt for her. To have contracted leprosy at such a young age and having to leave her family. Molokai has its own culture. Rachel built a life for herself. She lived on that island for fifty-five years.

Of all her friends, I liked Leilani the best. She was an interesting character and a strong character. I liked her personality.

I liked Haleola, her surrogate aunt. I really liked her as a character. I was happy when Rachel met and married K I really got into this book. I liked Rachel and I really felt for her. To have contracted leprosy at such a young age and having to leave her family. Molokai has its own culture. Rachel built a life for herself. She lived on that island for fifty-five years.

Of all her friends, I liked Leilani the best. She was an interesting character and a strong character. I liked her personality.

I liked Haleola, her surrogate aunt. I really liked her as a character. I was happy when Rachel met and married Kenji. Their love shone through strongly. It was bittersweet when Rachel found out she was pregnant and forced to give up the baby. I cried when Kenji died and the circumstances of how he died. I was happy when she was finally released and allowed to leave Molokai. She survived in less than ideal living conditions.

I really liked Sister Catherine who worked at the orphanage on Molokai. She was an important person in Rachel's life. Rachel named her daughter after Sister Catherine, well given name. I was pleased to see that Sister Catherine got to visit her own family and get to meet her nieces and nephews. It was a heartwarming part of the book.

What was also clear in this book, is the prejudice towards people with leprosy. I understand it is a serious disease but I think the victims of this disease could have been treated with a little more decency instead of just being shipped off somewhere to a remote island. At least the nuns and doctors on Molokai tried to help. Even after Rachel was paroled, aka released, she had to hide her past from her employers when she tried to get a job. I don't liked that the book referred to her release from Molokai as paroled because it makes her sound like a criminal. She even said it in the book. It isn't her fault she contracted the disease.

I was pleased to see that Rachel was able to reconcile their differences with her sister Sarah. They were able to reconnect after a long separation from each other. I am glad Rachel made the effort to contact her daughter, the one she gave up for adoption. At least she made the effort and family was important to Rachel. Overall, it was a great book.
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Nov 23, 2017 Rachel N. rated it really liked it

Shelves: read-in-2017, family, hawaii, historical-fiction, hansens-disease

3.5 stars rounded up

Rachel Kalama is 7 years old living in Hawaii in the 1890's when she contracts leprosy (currently known as Hansen's disease). To prevent the spread of the disease Rachel is forceably sent to the leper colony at Kalaupapa on Molokai. The book covers the span of Rachel's life though more time is spent on her childhood than later years. The author does a good job telling the history of Hansen's disease and of the colony at Kalaupapa. What I thought the book was lacking was much ...more

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Aug 27, 2011 Kathleen (itpdx) rated it really liked it

Brennert tells the story of the Moloka'i's Leper Colony through one woman's life. Rachel is exiled to the Kalaupapa peninsula in 1893 as a 7 year old. This is after Father Damien and others have stabilized and improved the conditions there. But as with other programs, funding and oversight waxes and wanes during her lifetime. It is a story of a life and family and community. The book also brushes against the some of the history of Hawaii from Kingdom to statehood. It also touches on the blending ...more

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Aug 13, 2009 Erin (NY) rated it it was amazing

Shelves: books-i-own, favorites, read-in-2010

This book was amazing! It is so well-written, but it is incredibly sad! The main character, Rachel, is so likable and she is faced with so many misfortunes. It made my cry in a number of places, so be prepared.

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