Wednesday, March 6, 2019

Daughter of Moloka'i (Moloka'i #2) by Alan Brennert

Daughter of Moloka'i (Moloka'i #2)
Title: Daughter of Moloka'i
Author: Alan Brennert
Published: 2019
Call #: FIC Brennert

Fifteen years after the publication of Moloka'i, Alan Brennert returns to the story of Rachel and her daughter Ruth, whom she was forced to give up for adoption.  If you have not read Moloka'i, Rachel, diagnosed with leprosy, had been sent to the island of Moloka'i, where others with the condition were housed in an effort to reduce the spread of the disease.  In this book, the story begins with Ruth at age 8 living in an orphanage and wondering about her birth family and why they gave her up.  She believes it is because her half-Japanese and half-Hawaiian ancestry has marked her as different and unwanted.

Ruth is eventually adopted by a loving Japanese family who had always wanted a daughter.  The book then follows Ruth's journey growing up in California during the 1930s and 1940s, living with her adoptive family on their uncle's farm and facing the extreme racism so prevalent against Asians at the time.  That racism takes a tragic turn when the Japanese bomb Pearl Harbor and FDR enacts the order which sends all Japanese relocated away from the West Coast.  Ruth, her husband Frank, their American-born children and the rest of Ruth's adoptive family are sent to relocation centers after having their profitable farm and restaurant ripped out from underneath them. 

After the war, Ruth and her family return to California in order to rebuild their lives, but the tragedies that occurred during their time in the camps have lingering effects that haunt the family through the rest of the book.

There are some bright spots of hope in the book--Ruth is reunited with her birth mother, the nuns who cared for her and even some of her extended Hawaiian family.  In the end, Brennert brings the story of Rachel and Ruth full circle, with a satisfying conclusion. He is a master storyteller, deftly weaving the twists and turns of the story into the fabric of history. His character development is superb, leaving the reader feeling connected to them within moments after they are introduced.  This book is definitely recommended to anyone who enjoyed Moloka'i, although it is not necessary to read the first book in order to enjoy Daughter of Moloka'i, they are stand alone novels.  However, I can't recommend both books enough. 

Jill B
Popular Materials Manager