Daughter of Moloka’i by Alan Brennert

Well written with a huge feeling of compassion, Daughter of Moloka’i follows the life of Ruth, also sweetly called Butterfy, throughout her very interesting life in Hawaii and California.

Her early years begin in an orphanage as an animal loving child. We follow her through happy years as an adopted daughter and then well into adulthood.

There is much detail in this story, which shows the author’s dedication to research about Japan and Hawaii, their people, language and customs. It is almost feels like a history lesson at times. In addition, you will get an education about Hansen’s Disease, also known as leprosy.

As a person of Japanese/Hawaiian lineage living in California, Ruth and her adopted family spend time in a U.S. internment camp during WWII. This sad and ugly chapter of American history is depicted in at least 1/4 of the book.

The author, however, creates a satisfying conclusion as Ruth circles back to her origins, having lived a full and happy life. I give this book 3.5 stars.

The” Daughter of Molokai” was a very interesting and great book. I really liked the attention given to the history of the time. The background of the detention centers was very interesting. The characters were so believable and interesting. I enjoyed this book very much and would recommend it to everyone. Thank you! I look forward to your next book!

Alan Brennert' s exquisite novel tells the story of Ruth, an American of Japanese Hawaiian descent. As the daughter of parents with Hansen's disease she is sent to an orphanage and subsequently is adopted by a Japanese couple. The family emigrated to California to farm. It tells about the ups and downs of her life. When WWII comes they are sent to Manzinita. The story continues to shortly after the war ends. The author writes about each event in her life with eloquence. This book is historically correct as it tells about Japanese entrance into the US, and their subsequent internment in camps during WWII. This is one of the best books I've read and should become a best seller!

I requested this novel because I throughly enjoyed Molokai’i. However, this one didn’t quite hit that same high mark for me. Perhaps because the first novel introduced a history of which I was unaware. This story, while solid, didn’t quite grab me as much and the pacing was slower. Good but not great.

Daughter of Moloka’i follows the story of Ruth, a young girl of Japanese and Hawaiian ancestry born to parents who were forced to give her up, rather than raise her in isolation in the leper colony where they lived. Ruth captures the hearts of the nuns who cared for her, and the adoptive parents who took her into their family. Ruth and her adoptive family join her uncle in California, where their fate takes horrific turns during the WWII era. A significant portion of the family’s story takes place while they live in and recover from the Japanese internment camps of WWII. As they weather the cruelties and indignities of the camps and Ruth marries and has children of her own, Ruth’s bond with her adoptive family grows.

While the internment storyline was captivating, as a massive fan of the first book in the series, I was eager to return to Moloka’I, the fascinating story of Ruth’s birth parents, and the lush descriptions of Hawaii’s topography and culture. Without giving away any spoilers, sufficed to say … I was not disappointed. However, I felt like the WWII story line was a book within a book. It was strong enough to stand on its own without ever tying back to Ruth’s birth family, which would have been fine had the expectation not been set from the title.

I highly recommend Daughter of Molokai. Thank you, Alan Brennart for writing such a captivating sequel to one of my favorite books, and St. Martin’s Press and NetGalley for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

My thanks to NetGalley for the ARC of this book. Daughter of Moloka’i is the follow up to Alan Brennert’s Moloka’i. It is not necessary to read the first book, as this one stands alone beautifully.

Ruth Utagawa was born to a Hawaiian mother and a Japanese father. We follow her life from an orphanage that took in the children of lepers, to her adoptive Japanese family and as she marries and has her own children. She experiences predjudice and discrimination as a “hapa”, or “half.”

With the advent of WWII, Ruth and her family are forcibly torn from their home and taken to a Japanese internment camp. Brennert’s prose conveys the indignity, fear and anger that pulsed through those unjustly held. You can feel the heat that builds both in temperature and emotion within the factions of those imprisoned.

Through each part of her journey, Ruth is looked over by a strong woman - a nun, her adoptive mother and her mother-in-law. But there is one important woman still a mystery - her birth mother., After so many challenges, will Ruth be able to survive the one that awaits her when she opens a letter not intended for her?

Daughter of Moloka’i is a captivating read. I highly recommend it.

I loved this book! Great read learned alot of history of Japanese/Hawaiian culture and how baldly our government treated these immigrants and American born children of them. Story keeps you interested throughout.

I am absolutely speechless! I loved this book as much as, if not more, than Moloka'i.

This is the story of Ruth Utagawa, her life in the orphanage, her life as an adopted daughter of the Watenabe's, her 4 year life in a Japanese internment camp, her life meeting her mother Rachel and so much more...

This is the story before the story Moloka'i or is it a companion or is it a prequel? It doesn't matter and you don't have to read Moloka'i to enjoy and understand this story. All I can tell you is to run, don't walk and pre-order this today. (release date is set for February 2019)

I laughed, I cried, I shared in happiness and joy, I shared in all the anger and injustice throughout. This book is an absolute must read!

My thanks to Netgalley and St Martin's Press for this advanced readers copy.

Daughter of Moloka'i: A Novel by [Brennert, Alan]

I really enjoyed this. I always like Brennert.

(I have a problem with your 100 characters rule--the entire point of my reviews is that they are short.)

I thoroughly enjoyed this book. Daughter of Moloka’i, examines both the leper community and the Japanese internment camps that were located in Hawaii. I really liked the historical information. The book is so well written it was hard for me to put down. I highly recommend it. I was provided an ARC of this book by NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

This is a saga that will capture the attention of any reader who likes quality writing. The characters and situations are so well researched and written, at times I forgot I was reading fiction. The story ranges from 1917 to 1970 and follows a little girl taken from her parents because they had leprosy. We learn about Japanese and Hawaiian customs and culture and the hardship of the Japanese relocation camps..

I was brought to tears many times while reading Daughter of Molokai. The writing is so good, I was totally immersed in this fascinating story. Whatever I say about this book cannot adequately express my love for it. I congratulate Alan Brennert for writing an outstanding story.
I received an Advanced Reader's Copy from St Martin's Press through NetGalley for the purpose of review. The opinions expressed are completely my own. #Daughter of Molokai #NetGalley

This book is beautifully written. This is the first book I read by this author so I have not yet read the first book Molaka'I but certainly plan to read it in the future. I fell like I really got to know the various people involved. I can tell you it's an emotional book. Quit a few times I had tears in my eyes. I also learned a lot of things I was not aware of. I did know about the Leprosy colony having read the books on Father Damien and was aware of the Japanese interment camps in the US but did not realize the open hostilities toward the Japanese population in California prior to World War II.
Knowing the current attitude towards the emigrants from South America it should not have surprised me. We never seem to learn from history.
This book is hard to put down because you become so involved with the little girl as she survives the years in the orphanage. Her adoption by a Japanese couple that with their sons made her feel a welcome member of the family. The move to California. Getting married and starting her own family. The years of been in the Japanese interment camps were you not only see the anger but also the solidarity of the people living in a very difficult situation. Later on we see her still been able to establish a 22 year long relationship of getting to know her birth mother. This book brings to life both the Japanese and Hawaiian cultures. I found this a very rewarding read so I highly recommend this book even if you haven't read the first one yet.

The relationship between these two women,the life travel she went on because she couldn't stay with her mom. The chain of events in history that happened,the horrid of camps,it's so worth the reading time!! The things you learn is such a wonderful thing!! Didn't read the other book but this made me want to read the series..

While this is a stand alone book, I would encourage anyone interested in reading this to read Molokai first. In this sequel, you follow the story of Rachel's daughter, Ruth. Ruth is taken away from her parents at a day old so she doesn't get infected with leprosy. This is Ruth's story. We meet Ruth as a young child, half hawaiian, half Japanese, in an orphanage in Hawaii and travel with her to California. We live her life with her through the bombing of Pearl Harbor and the effects it has on the Japanese Americans living in California. I learned a lot about a sad time in America's history. I would recommend this book to all historical fiction lovers, it's so well done.

Daughter of Moloka’i is the story of Ruth, the daughter of two leprosy patients in Hawaii who is involuntarily removed from her birth parents and eventually adopted by a Japanese couple. This book is a follow-up to Moloka’i , which I hadn’t read, but I didn’t feel like I was missing any crucial information by not reading the first book. This is a beautiful, poignant read that features the full gamut of life – sadness, happiness and plenty of routine daily moments, while interweaving Hawaiian and Japanese culture. Ruth faces the challenges that many of us do in our lives, but the book focuses on two challenges most of us don’t have to face – being a child wanting to be adopted into a loving family, and the internment of her and her family because of their Japanese heritage during World War II. This whole book is told well, but the time when Ruth’s family had to leave their homes and businesses to live in internment camps is told so well that you can’t help but feel angry at the injustice done to this group of people because of their ancestry. I really enjoyed this story!

I've enjoyed all of Brennert's books. This was good as well, but not quite as good as the other two. Moved a little slow at points, although as I'm pages away from finishing I'm kind of sad for it to end. Alan develops his characters so well. You feel like you really know them. I'm sure this book will be successful.

This is a sequel to the novel Moloka'i about the leper colony that Hawaiian residents were exiled to until the 1940s. I'm not sure this novel would completely stand on its own since a great deal of my interest was in what happened with characters in the first book. Having said that this novel does a great job of covering the Japanese internment camps that Americans were forcibly removed to from the western coast of the United States. Sadly the rising blame and prejudice focused towards a minority group highlighted in the book certainly rings true today. (ARC/NetGalley)

I thoroughly enjoy good historically accuracy fiction and Brennart does not disappoint. Finding this companion novel to Moloka’i was a joy and I couldn’t wait to get started. I found the characters come to life as I followed Ruth from an orphanage where she was placed because her mother had leprosy and had to give her up. She was eventually adopted by a loving Japanese couple with four sons. As time progressed, you get a wonderful glimpse into their culture and values. Especially heart rending was their removal to a Japanese internment camp during World War ll. I felt like I was walking through the experience with them and have a much better understanding of those dark days in American history. Eventually Ruth’s mom re-enters the picture and I couldn’t wait to see what would happen. Brennart has such a good feel for relationships and emotional integrity between his characters. I was not disappointed - my expectations were met.

I received this book via the publisher and Netgalley for an honest review.

Molokai was a favorite book of mine. I learned so much history from that book. I was excited to see a sequel written. Again I learned so much history. I was glad to revisit the subject and hear about Ruth's story. My patrons will enjoy this book. I think it will be a favorite of the year.

A well written story that I was drawn into from the very start.

First off, this is the first book by this author that I have read. I didn’t read the prequel to this book, Moloka’i. It isn’t necessary to be able to understand and enjoy this book. But, I will definitely be going back to read it just because I loved this story so much.

Daughter of Moloka’i is Ruth’s story. Ruth was born on Moloka'i to parents who had leprosy. She was brought to a convent in Honolulu where she would have a chance at a better life. From an early age, Ruth struggles with being half Hawaiian and half Japanese. When she is adopted by Japanese parents, she is brought up with their culture. Ruth and her new family move to California to help on her uncle’s farm when she is five years old. It turns out to be a big mistake. They are faced with racism as soon as they arrive. The story follows Ruth through her school age years, marrying and having children. And, just when things seem to be going good, Pearl Harbor is bombed. Ruth and her family are sent to live in internment camps. After the war ends, everyone is allowed to leave the camps and resume life, even though they don’t have a clue what they will do after losing everything they had. Ruth also learns who her birth mother is and meets her. She learns more about her Hawaiian side of the family and their culture, and with what it was like for her mother living in Kalaupapa, the leprosy settlement on Moloka’i.

This is a story of love, loss, triumph, tragedy and overcoming the odds with dignity. This book is so well written, I could easily visualize the scenes. It is one story that will stick with me for a long time. I highly recommend it.

Thank you St Martin’s Press and NetGalley for an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.