Take a photo of a barcode or cover
marilynw 's review for:
Daughter of Moloka'i
by Alan Brennert
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.