Moloka'i

I loved the historical fiction. And that it was based on real people and events. The island of Moloka’i has been of interest to me for a while. It's definitely an adult book with intimacy, war, and disease. I don’t usually like books that have adult intimacy scenes because they get a little graphic, but this book was a little more tactful about the physical intimacy.

Such an eye opening book to learn about how leprosy affected the people of Hawaii. Interesting, heart breaking, amazing.

One day as a young adolescent, while browsing at the library, I came across the book Miracle at Carville by Betty Martin. This book, which told the story of the author's diagnosis of leprosy in her 20's, also described the years she spent receiving treatment for this disease at a hospital in Carville, Georgia. Of the many books I have read since then, few have made as much of an impression on me as this title. When I learned about the sequel, I immediately rushed to borrow No One Must Ever Know and felt the same way about this title too. Recently I chanced upon the book Moloka'i by Alan Brennert and recognized the name of this area in Hawaii that was a former leprosy colony. I immediately had to read this book, and while no longer an impressionable adolescent as I once was, this book again filled me with compassion and love for the people who lived and suffered from this life threatening and alienating disease.In the late 19th century surrounded by the beauty of the islands of Hawaii, 7 year old Rachel Kalma lives an idyllic live surrounded by family members who adore her. While her father travels the world for his job, Rachel listens attentively to her father's stories and hopes one day to see the places her father vividly describes to her. Although there are some in their area who contract leprosy and are removed from the surroundings like Rachel's uncle, nobody ever thinks this disease will affect Rachel. Then she begins to show signs of a lesion which doesn't' respond to any of he mother's ministrations or medicine from the doctors. Eventually the authorities receive word that Rachel may have this disease and when they investigate Rachel, her families fears confirmed, she must leave her family to live among other lepers. Separated from her family except for occasional visits by her father and the company of her afflicted uncle, Rachel must make a new life for herself surrounded by an unusual cast of loving people. Adversity strengthens her as she comes to know the kind sister who cares for her, a fellow leper who hides a dark secret and the love of a good man whom she marries and even becomes a mother. By the end of this book, we weep with Rachel as friends die and cheer for her when she is able to fulfill some of her dreams. But the best part for me was that these were no longer characters in a book but people who I considered good friends, so vividly were they portrayed by the author.Told over six decades, Moloka'i tells the gripping story of adversity and the triumph of the human spirit. As I neared the end of the book I couldn't help but think of how we once viewed AIDS sufferers isolating them in many of the same way lepers were also once isolated. The author has written a compelling book and one worthy to take its place among other titles on this subject like Betty Martin's books and The Samurai's Garden by Gail Tsukiyama.

Wow, what a powerful story. If Oprah Winfrey's book club were still open to new novels then "Moloka'i" would rank right up there with "We Were the Mulvaneys" and "Bridges of Madison County". I could NOT put this book down - such is the story's "what happens next" factor! I read this book in a marathon, bleary-eyed two days -- something I haven't done since my mother gave me "Gone With The Wind" when I was 14 (reading under the covers late into the night with a flashlight!). Don't be put off by the fact that the primary antagonist in the story is the disease of leprosy: this is quickly relegated to the reader's subconscious as we become absorbed in the human drama of Rachel Kalama's life. Alan Brennert takes us back to Hawaii in the late 19th century and vividly recreates its unspoiled beauty. I was swept along with Rachel who, at the age of 7, is taken from her loving family and banished to the remote island of Moloka'i. Rachel finds her Uncle Pono (who preceded her there and is sadly the source of her own infection) and forges a new life with new friends in various stages of this devastating illness. As heartbreaking as her story is, it is also a story of hope, love, endurance and ultimately survival.