Around ten years ago, someone in my book club selected Moloka'i as our monthly read. I wasn't sure I'd like the book as I knew very little about Hawaii or leprosy, but it was a chance to learn. By the end of the novel, I was in tears and had scheduled a trip to visit the islands. It was a major hit at our book club meeting and I fondly recalled the book for several years. Last month, I was searching NetGalley to see what was newly released when this book showed in my queue. WHAT, A SEQUEL? I quickly requested it, waited days to find out if I'd be granted the approval, and messaged my former book club members to tell them about it. When I was awarded the book, I moved it up the queue and read it this week. This novel was truly a wonderful read and lived up to the first book; it's a high recommendation from me.

The sequel starts in the 1920s at an orphanage where Ruth, a young girl, has been dropped off by her parents, for adoption. While she didn't have leprosy, Ruth's parents did which meant they couldn't raise her for fear of further spreading the disease. Ruth waited years to be adopted because she's half-Japanese and half-Hawaiin; few potential adopters were interested in taking her with them after a visitation. All Ruth wants is her own pet -- a cow, a dog, anything... but the orphanage can't allow it. One day, a Japanese couple arrive and adopt her. Ruth finds a wonderful home and everything she deserves falls into place -- for a few years. Her adoptive father's brother asks them to move from Hawaii to California to help farm his land. They do, but they find resistance to Japanese by Americans. By the time Pearl Harbor occurred, life for anyone of Japanese descent in mainland America was impacted. Ruth and her entire family, including new husband, Frank, and their two kids, were placed in various relocation camps across the Western US. Pain, death, and regret follow the family for a few years.

As a reader, I came to tears several times, but they also have wonderful moments and relationships that deliver a strong balance in emotional terms. About 2/3 into the book, Ruth receives a letter from her biological mother explaining why she was given up for adoption. Should Ruth meet the woman? Who is she and what is her connection to the characters from the first book in the series? Author Alan Brennert delivers a powerhouse of emotions and history in this sequel which I feel is definitely a parallel match. Not only do we learn about the culture of Hawaii but about Japan in this second installment. To understand what happened to Japanese-Americans in the 30s and 40s was difficult and crushing. It was equally as crushing as the deaths at Pearl Harbor and in WW2 as a result of all the fighting, but the focus here was on those around Ruth and her family.

The book ultimately chronicles Ruth's life from age 3 to 55 when she's grown with her own kids who are beginning to think about marriage in the late 1960s after the Korean War efforts. We walk step-by-step with her as she loses family members, gains new ones, finds her connection to animals in a second life, and understands who she really is. The language in this book, whether it's Hawaiin, Japanese, or American English, is inspiring. It shows the flavor of the world Ruth lived in, both good and bad. At times, I laughed. Others, I teared up. To see a 50-thousand foot version of someone's life throughout the middle of the 20th century during many horrific wars is quite impacting. We learn of a few different things that happened during the first book that we didn't know then, but from a different perspective. We re-visit a few of those scenes again just to make connections. It's quite comforting and eye-opening to learn things that we hadn't know happened to Ruth's family before she was born.

I can't say enough good things about this sequel... perhaps in a few parts it was a tad slow and repetitive, but that's so minor, it didn't bother me. I still give this book a full 5 stars.

Daughter of Moloka’i is so very touching - throughout the book my tears were falling. The characters, and their hardships and triumphs, so deeply grabbed my heart and never let go. The main character, Ruth, grew up throughout the pages of this very special read. Loved the relationships between Ruth and the sisters at the home, then her adoptive mother and father and brothers. Complexities in these relationships were so well developed and so heart warming, yet seemed extremely realistic. Her relationship with her husband, Frank, added so much more depth to Ruth’s story. But then we watch Ruth come to terms with meeting, and ultimately falling in love with her birth mother, Rachel. Powerful and unforgettable as their relationship evolves and deepens. Learning Rachel’s story deepened my admiration for her and supported the difficult decisions she was forced to make.
The added bonuses of learning more about the way leprosy and lepers were treated, the stigma of being biracial, the horrors of the internment camps, and the glimpses of both the Hawaiian culture, and the Japanese/Hawaiian culture all added up to create a phenomenal book that will not soon be forgotten. I was excited to learn that this book was actually a sequel to Moloka’i, which I plan to read very soon.
My sincere thanks and appreciation to Alan Brennart, St. Martin’s Press, and NetGalley for affording me the opportunity to read an ARC of this unforgettable book.

This book was a follow up to Moloka'i which was a book I enjoyed very much. This book followed Rachel's daughter, Ruth, as she is adopted by a Japanese family and grows up, first in Hawaii and then in California. One of the things I enjoy about this author's books is how he weaves such amazing stories into the historical record. In this case, Ruth and her family encounters prejudice as World War 2 gets underway and are soon interred in the camps set up in the west during the U.S. involvement with the war. It was an eye-opening view into this world that I did not know much about. After the camps close, and Ruth and her family try to acclimate back into life outside the camps, a letter opens a door into a new relationship. Highly recommended!

Daughter of Moloka'i by Alan Brennert the second book as the story continues from Moloka'i and is just as beautiful as the first. I fell in love with Molokak'i and it has continued to be in my top five favorites of all time - and now Daughter of Moloka'i takes a place in the favorites. I have given this book to so many friends and family, I can't count how many times I have shared it, so there were pretty high expectations for Daughter of Moloka'i and i was not disappointed. The book is split in three books; the first is when we meet Ruth as an infant as she is brought to the Kaluapapa Home for Girls, in Honolulu, as the daughter of Rachel who lives on Moloka'i. She is adopted at age 5 and her loving family take her in with their four sons and eventually the move to northern California where she grows up and is married with two children of her own, the second book is the story of Ruth and her family in an internment camp, and then the third book brings Rachel back into Ruth's life. This is a most stunning, unforgetable and gorgeous story from start to finish. I can't recomment this book enough - it is a must read.! Thank you to #NetGalley #DaughterofMolokai #StMartinsPress

This is a sequel to a previous book Moloka'i, and I feel like I missed a lot by reading this book first. The first part of the book I found sweet and engaging. However, the author fast-forwarded the characters a bit too quickly for me, and I lost interest in the book.

Daughter of Moloka'i by Alan Brennert
309 pages
4 stars

MAY CONTAIN SPOILERS FOR MOLOKA'I THE PREQUEL

I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book from NetGalley. All thoughts and opinions are my own. Thank you NetGalley for the opportunity to review this book.

<em>The book follows young Ruth from her arrival at the Kapi'olani Home for Girls in Honolulu, to her adoption by a Japanese couple who raise her on a farm in California, her marriage and unjust internment at Manzanar Relocation Camp during World War II—and then, after the war, to the life-altering day when she receives a letter from a woman who says she is Ruth’s birth mother, Rachel.

DAUGHTER OF MOLOKA′I expands upon Ruth and Rachel’s 22-year relationship, only hinted at in MOLOKA′I. It’s a richly emotional tale of two women—different in some ways, similar in others—who never expected to meet, much less come to love, one another. And for Ruth it is a story of discovery, the unfolding of a past she knew nothing about. In prose that conjures up the beauty and history of both Hawaiian and Japanese cultures, it’s the powerful and poignant tale that readers of MOLOKA′I have been awaiting for fifteen years.</em>

Since I enjoyed Moloka'i so much, I was really excited to read the sequel. This story follows Rachel's daughter, Ruth. There is some crossover between the two books, but it wasn't overdone. I also enjoyed this book, but not as much as the first. I just didn't find Ruth's story as engaging as Rachel's. I think a part of this is I am somewhat more familiar/ not completely ignorant of concentration camps and the mistreatment of humans in history, whereas with Moloka'i, I didn't know the first thing about leprosy.
I do think Daughter of Moloka'i is worth reading if you enjoyed Moloka'i. Alan Brennert also has a beautiful style of writing that transports the reader into the story.

Having not read the first in this series, I was hoping that Brennert would be generous with the world-building and backstory here, and he was: through the first half of the book the story was slow moving but presented background and information needed to understand Ruth’s story and the revelations that she is discovering as she grows. And the first half of the story was slow to develop, interesting for those who enjoy historic fiction and setting the tone for the time with discussion of internment camps established after the attack of Pearl Harbor, the dangers of ‘demonizing’ a group or ethnicity and the layers of confusion, anger, and grief that becomes second nature to those who, through chance of birth, were persecuted. Alone, the first half of the book was a lovely read that presented plenty of food for thought and had moments that were laden with that mix of fact and fiction that readers who appreciate a tale with their history can enjoy.

And then the book dove deep! Ruth’s history is uncovered as she finally meets her birth mother: a Hawaiian woman who, with her Japanese husband, was confined in the leprosy settlement – giving up their daughter when she was an infant. Her connection to the pieces of herself (the Hawaiian bits) that she didn’t really know because her adoptive parents, wonderful people, were Japanese and she was raised in that culture with no connection to ‘before’. The examination of the cultures and expectations of both ‘halves’ of Ruth, finding the similarities and differences in traditions and approaches. The connection that Ruth has to the family who raised her, and the one she feels for the woman who birthed her don’t come into conflict (surprisingly) and the understanding that Ruth finds with meeting her mother Rachel brings readers and Ruth a sense of ‘completeness’ that fills the heart.

What emerges is a lovely tale that explains and details multiple injustices to these women, the prejudices and maltreatment suffered at the hands of ‘power’, and the resiliency of the cultural pride and traditions, a certain ‘rightness of being’ in following traditions and beliefs about family, honor, compassion and retribution that have existed for centuries. Brennert managed to infuse the story with the opportunity for empathy and anger from the readers as the injustices are presented, not unemotionally but all the more pointed for what I am sure will be ‘newness’ for many readers. Injustices that, once uncovered, are hard to justify and ignore – and as with most books that open a horizon, allow you to see the world, and its treatment of others with a fresh eye toward fairness and just treatments. Just a bonus to what was a lovely story that makes me need to know Rachel better and I’ve grabbed the first in the series to remedy that.

I received an eArc copy of the title from the publisher via NetGalley for purpose of honest review. I was not compensated for this review: all conclusions are my own responsibility.

Review first appeared at <a href=”https://wp.me/p3OmRo-ahW /” > <a> I am, Indeed </a>

This is Alan Brennert’s sequel to Moloka’i which was published in 2004. I loved Moloka’i so I was ecstatic to get an ARC from NetGalley. This sequel follows the life of Rachel’s daughter Ruth. Rachel is quarantined for leprosy on the island of Moloka’i and is forced to give up her daughter. Ruth is then placed in an orphanage and is eventually adopted by a sweet Japanese couple.

The book has a different tone than the first book and unfortunately for me, it lacked the same magic. Moloka’i was unique and told a story unlike many others. Most of this book circled around Ruth’s young adulthood when her family was sent to a Japanese internment camp. It felt done before, though it was well written.

3.5 out of 5 stars

Releases on Feb 18th

Thank you to NetGalley, St. Martin's Press, and Alan Brennert for an advanced copy for review.

I want to thank Net Galley and St. Martin's Press for providing me with an ARC of Daughter of Moloka'i in exchange for an honest review.

If Goodreads would allow for 1/2 stars, my rating would be 4 1/2 stars. The only reason for the 1/2 star less is that Moloka'i was one of my alltime favorites and was a little higher up on my rating scale. I loved Daughter of Moloka'i too.

Daughter of Moloka'i is a touching and at times heartbreaking story beginning in 1917 and culminating in 1970. Daughter of Moloka'i starts out in Hawaii and is the story of Ruth, the daughter of Rachel Kalama - the main character in Moloka'i. Ruth taken at birth from her parents, who have leprosy, is delivered to an orphanage. She is adopted by the Watanabes', a Japanese American family, at a young age. The family moved to California to help with her uncle's farm. After moving to California, Japan attacks Pearl Harbor, and the Watanabes are moved to an internment camp. The book reveals the atrocities that Japanese American families endured in captivity and after their release.

The greatest theme that runs throughout the book is gaman. "Gaman was a word rooted in Buddhism that meant 'enduring the seemingly unbearable with patience and dignity.'" Taizo, Ruth's father tells her, "We will gaman, and all with be right in the end." Ruth and her family gaman.

Book Review: Daughter of Moloka’i, by Alan Brennert, St. Martin's Press February 2019

I was privileged to read this book through NetGalley. Moloka’i was a much loved book by my book club so when I saw the sequel to this book on NetGalley I jumped at the chance to read it. It didn’t disappoint.

The story begins in 1917 in a home for girls on Honolulu. It’s a rainy night and a nun arrives with little Ruth Utagawa, an infant who had been removed from her parents who were lepers. Over the next couple of years as Ruth grows, she is passed over for adoption but ultimately she is adopted by a wonderful Japanese couple who give her a loving home. The story ensues as Ruth grows up with her adoptive family. Ultimately they relocate to California where her adoptive father’s brother lives on the false promise of a better life, ownership in a “successful” farm and more. Upon arrival they discover the brother’s life and farm wasn’t anything at all like he portrayed it. Life became difficult, but they stayed. Until the war came and then everyone’s lives were changed.

What I liked about the book: I loved the continuity with Moloka’i. The characters I knew plus the new ones that blended together into the second book. Ruth grows in so many directions from her childhood to life in California and then as the book continues to its beautiful ending.

What I didn’t like: I thought the whole section about living in the camps during WWII was very repetitive to several other novels/books I have read that cover the Japanese in the US I WWII. There wasn’t much that was new or added other perspective here so that was disappointing. In this sense though, Ruth and her family seemed to go from one “prison” like life (as a leper, then the orphanage, then on the farm, then in the camps) to the next. So that is perhaps a different perspective.

On the whole, I really liked the book, especially due to the character portraits. The end of the book is very sweet and brings the book and Ruth full circle – which is a nice moment.

Daughter of Moloka’i: Family, Love, and Honor

I’m glad I read “Daughter of Moloka’i” by Alan Brennert. It not only introduces me to the breath-taking ambience of Hawaii but it also introduces me to the plight of the Japanese people who endured mistreatment during World War II by their fellow citizens and their President, Franklin Roosevelt, “the same man who gave hope to millions during the Depression and guided the nation through a harrowing world war also enacted one of the greatest civil rights violations in U.S. history—ordering American citizens into concentration camps for no reason other than the color of their skin and the shape of their eyes.” The “us versus them” mentality always eclipses enlightenment, no matter what year or century in which we live.

“Daughter of Moloka’i” is about Ruth—a Hapa, half Japanese and half Hawaiian—who finds love not only within her adopted family but within her biological family as well when she finds out why her biological parents gave her up. She was taken away from her family since she was a baby to be placed in an orphanage, because both of her parents have leprosy. She’s lucky to be adopted by an honorable Japanese couple, Taizo and Etsuko Watanabe. They love her unconditionally, granted they have two biological boys of their own. They live humbly and happily in Hawaii until Taizo’s big brother dupes him into uprooting his family and moving to California. All hell breaks lose when Japan bombs Pearl Harbor, creating chaos and nightmares for Americans who share that country’s heritage. Ruth, by now, who is married and has two children of her own—a son and a daughter—finds herself expressing her anger and resentment against the injustices that are being committed against people like her, but at the same time, she has to fight and suppress her feelings, to maintain her composer as a good Japanese-American, so that she would not appear as a threat to her government. Ultimately, it’s her family’s honor, love, and bond that keep the Watanabes sane and alive for those three long, gruesome years of tortures and abuses at the concentration camps. After all, they have no one but each other, since other people take sides.

In spite of their heartbreaking loss and suffering under the hands of their government and fellow citizens who see them as their enemies, Ruth and her surviving family still see they were better off than the European Jews who were gassed, starved, and executed in the most heinous ways.

Alan Brennert tells a beautiful story, granted it is from a perspective of an outsider looking in. I highly recommend this book.

One-year-old Ruth is taken in the night from her place of birth at the leper colony on Moloka'i to a school for girls on Oahu. There she learns her numbers and letters, and dreams of the possibilities of being adopted, yet, she is fearful that her half-Japanese and half-Hawaiian ancestry will scare away families. But she strikes gold with the loving Watanabe family who have been looking for a daughter to join their household. Ruth is brought up in the Japanese traditions of the with the other Watanabe children.

The family takes an opportunity to leave Hawaii for the California Central Valley to join relatives in a farming venture. Ruth's uncle has mismanaged their farm and it takes years to set things right, but when the depression hits they lose everything. And once again the family is shaken, when Pearl Harbor is attacked and Executive Order 9066 sends them to the Manzanar Interment Camp.

Daughter of Moloka'i is broken up into three even parts: before the war, the stay at the interment camp, and the aftermath of the war. Brennert does a great job focusing the narrative on Ruth's character while also spending enough time with each of the other characters to fully flesh them out.

Spanning over five decades, the novel does have a tendency to gloss over some details, but it makes up for those slights with a sweeping vision of endurance. I have read Farewell to Manzanar several times while teaching it in to my high school students. I was happy to see Brennert pay homage to it in his afterward. 

The second half of Brennert's family odyssey, Daughter of Moloka'i is a book that can be enjoyed on many levels. It's a piece of American history and a portrait of familial strength.

4 out of 5 stars

Releases on Feb 18th

Thank you to NetGalley, St. Martin's Press, and Alan Brennert for an advanced copy for review.

I just received Moloka'i as a gift in the past year, and oh my gosh, I was completely blown away. So I was thrilled when I was given the chance to read Daughter of Moloka'i. With Moloka'i fresh in my mind, I picked up Daughter of Moloka'i, and prayed that I would love it as much as I loved the first book.

And you best believe I did! I've decided that Alan Brennert is a master story teller, I don't think he could write something bad. His characters are so well written, so complex. I ended up loving Daughters of Moloka'i just as much as I had loved Moloka'i, Daughter of Moloka'i is the story of Ruth, Rachel's daughter, who she had to give up within hours of her birth. Daughter of Moloka'i follows Ruth and Rachel's journey, and of Ruth's story of discovery, both of herself and her family. I highly recommend this book!

I want to thank St. Martin's Press and NetGalley for this Advanced Reader Copy in exchange for an honest review.

I received an advance copy of Daughter of Moloka‘I for an unbiased review. I really enjoyed this book and learned quite a bit about the plight of both people suffering from leprosy and confined to the settlement on Moloka’i and those of Japanese descent that were forced into camps during World War II. It’s the wonderful story of Ruth and the many changes she sees throughout her

This book was simply put amazing. I would strongly recommend reading the companion book Moloka'i first as together they are heartbreaking looks into our history. Alan Brennert knows how to write. He knows when you need the intense details of a moment and when a sparse paragraph will gut you.

Ruth is the daughter of Racher (the main character in Moloka'i who is forced to live on a leper colony/island). Ruth does not live on the island and the details to why are heartbreaking.

This book spans 54 years from 1916 to 1970. Ruth was adopted by a Japanese couple and the descriptions of the internment camps were enough to make me break into a new box of Kleenex. The in depth detail and research into the Japanese culture and what the US Government did and how it broke them deserves all the respect.

I could type pages more on how great this book is but instead will say READ IT YOURSELF STAT....after you read Moloka'i.

Thank you Netgalley for the ARC!

I enjoyed reading this book about a Hawaiian/ Japanese family. The journey of Ruth, an orphan at the beginning of the novel is adopted and then her journey begins. Ruth’s adopted father picked up family and moved them from Hawaii to California. This a mistake but there is no turning back . While in California the Japanese dropped a bomb on Hawaii. All Japanese (whether US citizens or not ) were put in internment camps. . What an interesting portrayal of the atrocities the Japanese endured. Once the family was released I felt that the novel should have ended. There were too many topics that the author was trying to weave into one novel..
I did learn quite a bit , however, about Japanese during World War Two. I also grew to care about the family and most importantly Ruth.

For readers who are not familiar with the Japanese interment in the US and the uprising, this will be a thoughtful sensitive piece. It is a sequel to Moloka'i which I highly recommend reading as it brings much richness to piercing together this novel.Written in a sympathetic tone, most of it focuses on the tragic rules by the US government to essentially "stockade" human beings in deplorable surroundings, ripped apart from their land and homes, and greeting the Japanese Americans with unbound hostility. One has to give the author credit for the high level of research that went into creating this historical fiction.The novel starts out with baby Ruth handed to a nun led orphanage, taken from her leper mother and then adopted by a warm and loving Japanese family. We follow Ruth as she matures through the years, her family tragedies in Manzanar, and a surprise letter that turns her world upside down. The love between mothers and daughters is told with a sweet tenderness and its theme is carried throughout the book. Admittedly, I enjoyed the book but it never pulled me in. Perhaps because I knew a great deal about the history, it did not captivate me as much as it might for others. However, those looking to learn more can benefit from engaging in Brennert's current novel.

My coworker loaned me their copy of Moloka'i about a month before I saw that Alan Brennert was releasing Daughter of Moloka'i. Apparently the stars aligned for me and Netgalley approved me for a copy of Daughter of Moloka'i. So my end of the year reading has primarily been based on the novel of these two women, Rachel and her daughter Ruth.

**HUGE DISCLAIMER**-Reading without having read Maloka'i would be doing yourself a huge disfavor. Maloka'i is a beautifully touching story that most readers won't soon forget.

Let's move on to the daughter...

Ruth was born to Rachel Kalama when she was quarantined on the island of Kalaupapa where people with leprosy essentially went to die. The infants are almost immediately removed from their parents care. These babies are closely monitored to see if they show signs of having the disease as well. The ones who survived past a year were sent to an orphanage. This orphanage is where we meet Ruth and her story begins.

Alan Brennert's Daughter of Maloka'i is just as moving as it's companion novel. We readers get to see her grow up and experience many losses, many gains, ups, downs, and all that comes with life. As I write this review I think about the many losses both women experienced and those losses were always because of someone else's fears and bias.

People feared leprosy, therefore Rachel was forced to leave her home at the young age of seven. People feared the Japanese, therefore Ruth's family lost almost all they worked so hard to build while they were forced into "Interment" camps during World War II. A huge part of me gets so mad at what fear and racism drive societies to do; to allow be done to other people. It's like some WALL of hate humans are incapable of overcoming and it happens generation after generation.

Luckily, there are novels like Alan Brennert's that prove to people like me there's always a reason for hope. After the world hands you shitty cards, hope keeps you "go fishing".

Anyway... My rant is over...

Alan Brennert's Daughter of Maloka'i is a well written story that one can easily become immersed in. The main characters are beautifully drawn and Ruth is such an interesting character, much like her mother Rachel.

But I do have a gripe... Just one small gripe...

It might be due to the fact that I read Maloka'i only a few weeks ago that the magic of it was still fresh in my mind. I felt more connected to the way that story unfolded than this one. Ruth's story felt very terse as if a followup was expected and the author did not have his heart in it completely. I may be the minority in having this opinion but... I remember feeling every sort of emotion there was possible with Maloka'i but this novel left me wanting. Sure this was a good read, hence my 4-star rating, but... there was something missing that I couldn't quite put my finger on.

Either way, Daughter of Maloka'i is a must-read for those who loved Maloka'i. After reading both novels, I realize there's so much more history that I need to research regarding the West Coast.

Copy Provided by St. Martin's Press via Netgalley

Thank you NetGalley and St. Martins’s Press for the opportunity to read Daughter of Molokai by Alan Brennert. Molokai was one of my all time favorite reads and the first book I ever re-read. I read it right before reading Daughter of Molokai and thoroughly enjoyed it the second time. I did enjoy the sequel but not near as much as Molokai. The story goes into Rachel’s daughter Ruth whom she was forced to give up for adoption. The book was very well researched and I did learn a lot about the Japanese internment. It is shocking and horrific to read what America did to its citizens. I am not usually a fan of sequels because I feel like a lot of the first story is retold. All that being said I am happy I had the opportunity to read it and I would recommend it for fans of Molokai and fans of historical fiction, just don’t go in with expectations of it being as good as Molokai.

I cannot emphasize enough how much I LOVED this book. This story follows Ruth, a young girl who was given up by her mother, Rachel, and spans many years, from the time she arrives at the girls home, and all the way until adulthood. If you are a fan of historical fiction, you WILL NOT want to miss this. The writing was vivid and beautiful, heartbreaking and also enchanting. My heart became so invested in both of these characters and I was sad this book ever had to end!