Synopses & Reviews
From the bestselling author of the dazzling historical saga” (The Washington Post), Molokai, comes the irresistible story of a young immigrant bride in a ramshackle town that becomes a great modern city
In Korea in those days, newborn girls were not deemed important enough to be graced with formal names, but were instead given nicknames, which often reflected the parents feelings on the birth of a daughter: I knew a girl named Anger, and another called Pity. As for me, my parents named me Regret.”
Honolulu is the rich, unforgettable story of a young picture bride” who journeys to Hawai'i in 1914 in search of a better life.
Instead of the affluent young husband and chance at an education that she has been promised, she is quickly married off to a poor, embittered laborer who takes his frustrations out on his new wife. Renaming herself Jin, she makes her own way in this strange land, finding both opportunity and prejudice. With the help of three of her fellow picture brides, Jin prospers along with her adopted city, now growing from a small territorial capital into the great multicultural city it is today. But paradise has its dark side, whether its the daily struggle for survival in Honolulus tenements, or a crime that will become the most infamous in the islands history...
With its passionate knowledge of people and places in Hawai'i far off the tourist track, Honolulu is most of all the spellbinding tale of four women in a new world, united by dreams, disappointment, sacrifices, and friendship. Alan Brennert is the author of Molokai, which was a 2006-2007 BookSense Reading Group Pick and won the 2006 Bookies Award, sponsored by the Contra Costa Library, for the Book Club Book of the Year. It appeared on the BookSense, Los Angeles Times, San Francisco Chronicle, Honolulu Advertiser, and NCIBA bestseller lists. Alan has also won an Emmy Award for his work as a writer-producer on the television series L.A. Law and a Nebula Award for his story MaQui.” He lives in Sherman Oaks, California. Winner of Elles Lettres 2009 Grand Prix for Fiction
In Korea in those days, newborn girls were not deemed important enough to be graced with formal names, but were instead given nicknames, which often reflected the parents feelings on the birth of a daughter: I knew a girl named Anger, and another called Pity. As for me, my parents named me Regret.”
Honolulu is the rich, unforgettable story of a young picture bride” who journeys to Hawai'i in 1914 in search of a better life.
Instead of the affluent young husband and chance at an education that she has been promised, Regret is quickly married off to a poor, embittered laborer who takes his frustrations out on his new wife. Renaming herself Jin, she makes her own way in this strange land, finding both opportunity and prejudice. With the help of three of her fellow picture brides, Jin prospers along with her adopted city, now growing from a small territorial capital into the great multicultural city it is today. But paradise has its dark side, whether its the daily struggle for survival in Honolulus tenements, or a crime that will become the most infamous in the islands history.
With its passionate knowledge of people and places in Hawai'i far off the tourist track, Honolulu is most of all the spellbinding tale of four women in a new world, united by dreams, disappointment, sacrifices, and friendship. "Honolulu is meticulously researched . . . [Brennert] intersperses cultural detailssong lyrics, movies, popular books from the erathat add textured authenticity, and he incorporates major historic events . . . Brennert portrays the Aloha State's history as complicated and dynamicnot simply a melting pot, but a Hawaiian-style 'mixed plate' in which, as [protagonist] Jin sagely notes, 'many different tastes share the plate, but none of them loses its individual flavor, and together they make up a uniquely "local" cuisine.'"Krista Walton, The Washington Post
To its core, Honolulu is meticulously researched . . . Brennert portrays the Aloha State's history as complicated and dynamicnot simply a melting pot, but a Hawaiian-style mixed plate in which, as Jin sagely notes, many different tastes share the plate, but none of them loses its individual flavor, and together they make up a uniquely local cuisine.”The Washington Post
Successful historical fiction doesn't just take a story and doll it up with period detail. It plunges readers into a different world and defines the historical and cultural pressures the characters face in that particular time and place. That's what Los Angeles writer Alan Brennert did in his previous novel, Molokai, the story of diseased Hawaiians exiled in their own land. He has done it again in Honolulu, which focuses on the Asian immigrant experience in Hawaii, specifically that of Korean picture brides . . . This is a moving, multilayered epic by a master of historical fiction, in which one immigrant's journey helps us understand our nation's becoming.”San Francisco Chronicle
A sweeping, meticulously researched saga that sees it plucky heroine, a mistreated but independent-minded Korean mail-order bride, through the highs and lows of life in twentieth-century Hawaii, this book extends our readers tradition of favoring lush, flavorful historical novels.”Elle
A well-researched and deftly written tale . . . For sheer readability, it's a hit . . . Brennert has a good eye for places we can't see anymore: plantation life before the unions gained power; Chinatown when it was all tenements; Waikiki before the high-rises started going up. And it's clear he has real affection for the little people and places he so vividly brings to life. He's not just using historic Honolulu as a place to set a novel; he's bringing it to life for people who haven't had the chance to imagine it before.”Honolulu Star-Bulletin
Intriguing . . . Honolulu offers endless insights into a culture many readers may never have encountered, and Brennert further enlivens his tale by dropping in historical figures, some fictional, such as Charlie Chan, and some real, such as Clarence Darrow. But it is Korea that's the real focus of this story, and readers get a sympathetic feel for the daily humiliations the native population suffered from the Japanese who conquered the country . . . [Brennerts] smooth narrative style makes the book a pleasure to read.”Roanoke Times
With skill, historic accuracy and sensitivity and a clear passion for the people and places in Hawaii, Brennert weaves a story that will move and inspire readers.”The Oklahoma
In this dazzling rich, historical story, a young picture bride travels to Hawaii in 1914 in search of a better life . . . This intriguing novel is a fascinating literary snapshot of Hawaii during the early years of the last century. The story is compelling, poignant and powerful.”Tucson Citizen
This delightful, suspense-filled feminist novel and social history movingly portrays the ambivalence, confusion and longing suffered by immigrants making their way in a new world, but reveals how women who may be powerless individually, can band together into a triumphant sororal circle of unstoppable strength.”Newark Star-Ledger
[A] sweeping, epic novel . . . Brennert weaves the true stories of early Hawaii into his fictional tale, and many of the captivating people Jin encounters are real. His depiction of the effects of the Depression is startling. Lets hope Brennert follows up this second novel with a third and continues to capture this intriguing and little-explored segment of American history in beautifully told stories.”Library Journal (starred review)
[A] poignant, colorful story.”Kirkus Reviews
Brennerts lush tale of ambition, sacrifice, and survival is immense in its dramatic scope yet intimate in its emotive detail.”Booklist
Regret is the given name of the protagonist of Alan Brennert's beautiful, sprawling novel Honolulu . . . Brennert's realization of a character of so different a time, place and gender of his own is an amazing accomplishment in itself. Honolulu is a delight.”BookPage
Review
PRAISE FOR Honolulu, selected as "One of the Best Books of 2009" by The Washington Post, and winner of Elles Lettres 2009 Grand Prix for Fiction
“A sweeping, meticulously researched saga that sees it plucky heroine, a mistreated but independent-minded Korean mail-order bride, through the highs and lows of life in twentieth-century Hawaii, this book extends our readers tradition of favoring lush, flavorful historical novels.” -Elle
“A well-researched and deftly written tale….For sheer readability, it's a hit…. Brennert has a good eye for places we can't see anymore: plantation life before the unions gained power; Chinatown when it was all tenements; Waikiki before the high-rises started going up. And it's clear he has real affection for the little people and places he so vividly brings to life. He's not just using historic Honolulu as a place to set a novel; he's bringing it to life for people who haven't had the chance to imagine it before.” -Honolulu Star-Bulletin
“To its core, Honolulu is meticulously researched….Brennert portrays the Aloha State's history as complicated and dynamic—not simply a melting pot, but a Hawaiian-style ‘mixed plate in which, as Jin sagely notes, ‘many different tastes share the plate, but none of them loses its individual flavor, and together they make up a uniquely “local” cuisine.” -The Washington Post
“Successful historical fiction doesn't just take a story and doll it up with period detail. It plunges readers into a different world and defines the historical and cultural pressures the characters face in that particular time and place. That's what Los Angeles writer Alan Brennert did in his previous novel, Molokai, the story of diseased Hawaiians exiled in their own land. He has done it again in "Honolulu," which focuses on the Asian immigrant experience in Hawaii, specifically that of Korean picture brides….This is a moving, multilayered epic by a master of historical fiction, in which one immigrant's journey helps us understand our nation's "becoming." -San Francisco Chronicle
“[A] sweeping, epic novel….Brennert weaves the true stories of early Hawaii into his fictional tale, and many of the captivating people Jin encounters are real. His depiction of the effects of the Depression is startling. Lets hope Brennert follows up this second novel with a third and continues to capture this intriguing and little-explored segment of American history in beautifully told stories.” -Library Journal (starred review)
“[A] poignant, colorful story.” -Kirkus Reviews
“Brennerts lush tale of ambition, sacrifice, and survival is immense in its dramatic scope yet intimate in its emotive detail.” -Booklist
“Intriguing….Honolulu offers endless insights into a culture many readers may never have encountered, and Brennert further enlivens his tale by dropping in historical figures, some fictional, such as Charlie Chan, and some real, such as Clarence Darrow. But it is Korea that's the real focus of this story, and readers get a sympathetic feel for the daily humiliations the native population suffered from the Japanese who conquered the country….[Brennerts] smooth narrative style makes the book a pleasure to read.” -Roanoke Times
“With skill, historic accuracy and sensitivity and a clear passion for the people and places in Hawaii, Brennert weaves a story that will move and inspire readers.” -The Oklahoman
“In this dazzling rich, historical story, a young ‘picture bride travels to Hawaii in 1914 in search of a better life….This intriguing novel is a fascinating literary snapshot of Hawaii during the early years of the last century. The story is compelling, poignant and powerful.” --Tucson Citizen
AND ACCLAIM FOR Molokai:
"Molokai is a big, generous, compassionate, beautifully rendered epic novel about a largely forgotten, largely ignored chapter in Hawaiian and American history. Alan Brennert has written an exquisitely textured tale of darkness and light, tragedy and the triumph of the human spirit, filled with original, fully realized characters who walk right off the page and into our hearts." --Jim Fergus, author of One Thousand White Women
"Brennert evokes the evolution of—and hardships on—Moloka'i in engaging prose that conveys a strong sense of place." --National Geographic Traveler
"Molokai is a haunting story of tragedy in a Pacific paradise. The book opens a window on a world of dazzling beauty, and ugly disease and fear, and the courage of a young woman in the Hawaii of a hundred years ago. It is a story of romance and humanity, and struggles with the pain of isolation, in a place far away in time, yet very close in intimacy, vividness, and exact detail, giving us a sense of community and true kinship across time. It is a story of victory." --Robert Morgan, author of Gap Creek
"A moving story...a vivid picture of Hawaii before it became the Touristland it is today."--Larry McMurtry, author of Lonesome Dove
"A dazzling historical saga.” --The Washington Post
"Exhaustively researched, Molokai transported me to a place I never thought Id want to go—a nineteenth-century Hawaiian leper colony. But Alan Brennert meticulously paints this world, making it resonate with our own, in which disease is still politicized and made a moral issue. Out of the tragedy of the ostracized and the afflicted, he tells a story of triumph and transcendence."--Karen Essex, author of Kleopatra and Pharaoh
“A poignant story.” --Los Angeles Times
"Alan Brennert draws on historical accounts of Kalaupapa and weaves in traditional Hawaiian stories and customs . . . Moloka'i is the story of people who had much taken from them but also gained an unexpected new family and community in the process." --Chicago Tribune
"Compellingly original…Brennert's compassion makes Rachel a memorable character, and his smooth storytelling vividly brings early twentieth-century Hawai'i to life." --Publishers Weekly (starred review)
"Moving and elegiac." --Honolulu Star-Bulletin
Synopsis
From the bestselling author of the “dazzling historical saga” (The Washington Post), Molokai, comes the irresistible story of a young immigrant bride in a ramshackle town that becomes a great modern city
“In Korea in those days, newborn girls were not deemed important enough to be graced with formal names, but were instead given nicknames, which often reflected the parents feelings on the birth of a daughter: I knew a girl named Anger, and another called Pity. As for me, my parents named me Regret.”
Honolulu is the rich, unforgettable story of a young “picture bride” who journeys to Hawai'i in 1914 in search of a better life.
Instead of the affluent young husband and chance at an education that she has been promised, she is quickly married off to a poor, embittered laborer who takes his frustrations out on his new wife. Renaming herself Jin, she makes her own way in this strange land, finding both opportunity and prejudice. With the help of three of her fellow picture brides, Jin prospers along with her adopted city, now growing from a small territorial capital into the great multicultural city it is today. But paradise has its dark side, whether its the daily struggle for survival in Honolulus tenements, or a crime that will become the most infamous in the islands history...
With its passionate knowledge of people and places in Hawai'i far off the tourist track, Honolulu is most of all the spellbinding tale of four women in a new world, united by dreams, disappointment, sacrifices, and friendship.
Synopsis
From the bestselling author of the "dazzling historical saga" (The Washington Post), Moloka'i, comes the irresistible story of a young immigrant bride in a ramshackle town that becomes a great modern city
"In Korea in those days, newborn girls were not deemed important enough to be graced with formal names, but were instead given nicknames, which often reflected the parents' feelings on the birth of a daughter: I knew a girl named Anger, and another called Pity. As for me, my parents named me Regret."
Honolulu is the rich, unforgettable story of a young "picture bride" who journeys to Hawai'i in 1914 in search of a better life.
Instead of the affluent young husband and chance at an education that she has been promised, she is quickly married off to a poor, embittered laborer who takes his frustrations out on his new wife. Renaming herself Jin, she makes her own way in this strange land, finding both opportunity and prejudice. With the help of three of her fellow picture brides, Jin prospers along with her adopted city, now growing from a small territorial capital into the great multicultural city it is today. But paradise has its dark side, whether it's the daily struggle for survival in Honolulu's tenements, or a crime that will become the most infamous in the islands' history...
With its passionate knowledge of people and places in Hawai'i far off the tourist track, Honolulu is most of all the spellbinding tale of four women in a new world, united by dreams, disappointment, sacrifices, and friendship.
Synopsis
From the bestselling author of the dazzling historical saga (The Washington Post), Moloka'i, comes the irresistible story of a young immigrant bride in a ramshackle town that becomes a great modern city
In Korea in those days, newborn girls were not deemed important enough to be graced with formal names, but were instead given nicknames, which often reflected the parents' feelings on the birth of a daughter: I knew a girl named Anger, and another called Pity. As for me, my parents named me Regret.
Honolulu is the rich, unforgettable story of a young picture bride who journeys to Hawai'i in 1914 in search of a better life.
Instead of the affluent young husband and chance at an education that she has been promised, she is quickly married off to a poor, embittered laborer who takes his frustrations out on his new wife. Renaming herself Jin, she makes her own way in this strange land, finding both opportunity and prejudice. With the help of three of her fellow picture brides, Jin prospers along with her adopted city, now growing from a small territorial capital into the great multicultural city it is today. But paradise has its dark side, whether it's the daily struggle for survival in Honolulu's tenements, or a crime that will become the most infamous in the islands' history...
With its passionate knowledge of people and places in Hawai'i far off the tourist track, Honolulu is most of all the spellbinding tale of four women in a new world, united by dreams, disappointment, sacrifices, and friendship.
About the Author
ALAN BRENNERT is the author of Molokai, which was a 2006-2007 BookSense Reading Group Pick and won the 2006 Bookies Award, sponsored by the Contra Costa Library, for the Book Club Book of the Year (over My Sisters Keeper, by Jodi Picoult; The Devil in the White City, by Erik Larson; and A Million Little Pieces, by James Frey). It appeared on the BookSense, Los Angeles Times, San Francisco Chronicle, Honolulu Advertiser, and (for 16 weeks) NCIBA bestseller lists. Alan has also won an Emmy Award for his work as a writer-producer on the television series L.A. Law and a Nebula Award for his story “MaQui.” He lives in Sherman Oaks, California.
Reading Group Guide
Reading Group Questions
1. How do you feel about Jins decision to leave Korea? What might you have done in her place? How do you regard the various decisions she made after learning the truth about her fiancé in Hawai'i?
2. How would you interpret the poem by Hwang Chini on page 26 within the context of the novel?
3. Korea and Hawai'i were both small countries, in strategic locations, that came to be dominated by more powerful nations. In what other ways were the Korean and Hawaiian societies of the time both similar and different?
4. Compare and contrast the lives of a Korean kisaeng and an Iwilei prostitute.
5. How does the author weave real people and events into the lives of his fictional characters, and how do they contribute to your understanding of Jins circumstances? If you were already familiar with any of the historical figures, how do you view them after reading the novel? For example, the author is uncertain of May Thompsons fate in real life—what do you think she might have done after leaving Honolulu? What do you think about the Governors decision to commute the sentences of Lt. Massie and the others convicted in Joe Kahahawais death?
6. How have Americans attitudes toward immigrants changed—or not changed—since the 1900s?
7. The biography Passage of a Picture Bride describes its real-life subject as having a “positive outlook and broad-mindedness, unusual traits among Korean women” of that time. How does this statement apply to Jin and her fellow picture brides?
8. What binds Jin and her “Sisters of Kyongsang” together, other than the kye? What purpose do they serve in each others lives?
9. What is the significance of the patchwork quilts not just to Jins life, but to the life of Hawai'i itself?
10. At the end of the novel, Jin says “Hawai'i has often been called a melting pot, but I think of it more as a ‘mixed plate—a scoop of rice with gravy, a scoop of macaroni salad, a piece of mahi-mahi, and a side of kimchi. Many different tastes share the plate, but none of them loses its individual flavor, and together they make up a uniquely ‘local cuisine. This is also, I believe, what America is at its best—a whole great than the sum of its parts.” What do you believe? What is gained and what is lost—both in Hawai'i and in the U.S. as a whole—in becoming a multicultural society? How might this be particularly relevant to Native Hawaiians?