Daughter of Moloka'i by Alan Brennert

Alan Brennert's novel 2003 Moloka'i has a huge fan base and is much beloved among historical fiction readers. Now he continues the story in Daughter of Moloka'i.

In the first novel, we meet Rachel in the Hawaiian leper colony, her infant Ruth placed in a Catholic orphanage to protect her from developing her parent's leprosy. In this new novel, Brennert continues Ruth story as she is adopted by a Japanese couple. They move to California where they come up against anti-Japanese sentiment. The family is caught up in the horror of relocation camps during WWII, suffering a division when a loyalty oath compels the patriarch to make a choice that leads to repatriation. Ruth's story is continued as the family struggles to regain what they have lost. And in the end, Ruth is reunited with her birth mother and learns her heritage. Readers will learn a lot about Hawaiian and Japanese culture and religion.

Brennert does not shy from including gruesome stories of racist injustice, scenes that are far more disturbing than those shared in other recent novels about Manzanar which I have read. 

Years ago I read Brennert's novel Honolulu and enjoyed it. I already had Moloka'i on my Kindle and intended to read it before Daughter of Moloka'i but ended up reading only about half of it. Consequently, my emotional involvement in the reunion at the end of the novel was weaker.

Overall, my response to both novels was lacking. I don't know if I was just burned out by too much historical fiction, especially about these events, or if I was burned out by family sagas, or if the prose just didn't work for me. The events covered are certainly intense and relevant. But I didn't really *get into* the characters and often felt there was too much telling and not enough action. Scenes I wished were acted out were only referred to, and other scenes took up too much space.

But that's me, and I am often out of sync with mainstream readers. Because people love these novels and characters.

I can't find fault with Brennert's commitment to using fiction to broaden reader's knowledge of history and the ways the American government has grievously erred--and still errors-- practicing racism that employs unjust and cruel laws. So, kudos to Brennert! And may readers everywhere love these characters and pledge that America's past moral failing not continue to be perpetrated in the future.

I received a free ebook from the publisher through NetGalley in exchange for a fair and unbiased review.

You can read an excerpt at 

https://us.macmillan.com/books/9781250137685

Daughter of Moloka'i

by Alan Brennert

St. Martin's Press

Pub Date 19 Feb 2019  

ISBN 9781250137661

PRICE $27.99 (USD)

Hawaiian Red Herrings: Wings in the Dark by Michael Murphy

The cover is amazing. The comparison to Dashiell Hammet and The Thin Man protagonists Nick and Nora intriguing. It involved Amelia Earhart! I went out of my usual genres to request Michael Murphy's Wings in the Dark, the third of his Jake & Laura mysteries but the first one I had read.

Jake & Laura are no Nick and Nora, and Murphy's writing can't compare to Hammett or the other great Noire writers of the last century. How I hate blurb writers who resort to easy comparisons to some iconic work.

To be fair, I will toss aside those comparisons and judge the book on its own merit.

Jake and Laura were childhood sweethearts in Queens, NYC. Jake was a detective, now he writes mysteries, and Laura is a famous movie star. Finally married they are honeymooning in Hawaii. It is 1935 and Amelia Earhart is in Hawaii preparing to fly across the Pacific Ocean. Laura happens to be an old friend so when Amelia finds herself a murder suspect she calls on Jake to help.

The honeymoon is over.

There are several red herrings along the way, each revealing a larger political plot. The murdered man's ex-mistress was at the scene of the crime. Secret societies of Royalists want to end American imperialism and reestablish the monarchy. The murdered man wanted Hawaiian statehood but his brother was a Royalist. Japan had motive to sabotage Amelia's flight as a way of preventing America from establishing air flight across the Pacific. This part of history is not well known and is quite interesting.

Typical of the genre, the plot is the thing. There are enough twists to satisfy. There are action scenes, too. We have a femme fatale, strong-arm goons, a bar in the wrong part of town--all the stock devices. Laura's beauty and fame bring her constant sexist attention, including from her hubby--Very 1930s.

I was irked by information dumps and name dropping without any real characterization. Amelia never seems real; she is a talking cartoon of that famous photo of her in a flight suit, hair tousled, a smile on her sun weathered face. J. Edgar Hoover and George Patton appear without any real reason for being in the book. The humor is so-so, with too many clichés and old chestnuts.

A look at reviews of the previous Jake & Laura books comes up mostly with 4 or 5 stars. So readers do like the series. For me, this is a two hour beach read for when you just want to veg out.

I received a free ebook for a fair and unbiased review.

Wings in the Dark
Michael Murphy
Penguin Random House
Publication Date July 14, 2015
214 page ebook $2.99
ISBN: 9780553393378