I recommend reading this book even if you haven't read Moloka'i, the first book of the two. Although this is a sequel, the author supplies the necessary background for the reader to become invested and understand the plot. This story follows the path of Ruth, a baby born on Moloka'i. It is a story of resilience, honor, survival, love and ohana, the Hawaiian term for family.

Ruth’s story evokes a lot of emotion. There was sadness, anger, happiness and joy. It shows the shifting of American values in the face of the bombing of Pearl Harbor; and demonstrates the strength of family and the determination to survive.

Daughter of Moloka'i is well written with well defined characters. The characters are written with the attributes of the cultures they represent. It is an enlightening work of historical fiction.

I highly recommend this book to everyone. It doesn't matter whether you read Moloka'i, you can appreciate and enjoy this book. I will be reading Moloka'i to learn more.

Thank you #Netgalley and #StMartinsPress for approving my request. The opinions expressed in this review are solely my own.

Daughter of Moloka'i was a good book. I liked how the author took the primary character from his first in the series to expand on in this book. Ruth was a very realistic and well drawn character. I particularly liked how her story went full circle and took the reader back to her roots.

The other characters were also interesting as was the story line.

Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for the opportunity to read and review this remarkable story.

I received this book from NetGalley.
This story was so incredibly gripping and enthralling that once I started reading, I had a hard time putting it down! I loved Ruth's story and how her life of an adopted daughter panned out. As a reader of historical fiction, I loved the perspective on the Japanese Internment camps and the attention to detail on what life was like for those inside. The story flows so well and the ending is satisfying. I would highly recommend to those who enjoy reading about American History from a minority perspective. While this is not an #ownvoice author, it has led me to want to read more about this period in American History and shape my own perspective on what occurred in order to do better.

This was a good read, but lacked the heart and soul of the author's first 2 books about Hawaii. I kept thinking "when will we get to Molokaii?" Very good story about the Japanese internment camps during the war though.

Definitely a must read if you loved Moloka'i. Such a moving story. I didn't think I would like a sequel as much, but it is truly a great read!

Excellent follow up to Molokai. Brennert is a master of historical fiction, and his skills are showcased in this meticulously researched and moving new novel. This book is sure to be one of the year’s best book club reads.

I can honestly say that Moloka'i is one of the best novels of historical fiction that I've ever read. It's hard to imagine a sequel living up to the acclaim of that book, but Alan Brennart does not disappoint.

In the last sections of Moloka'i Rachel Kalama Utagawa is finally able to reconnect with Ruth, the daughter she gave up for adoption to give her a chance for a healthy family, away from the leprosy colony at Kalaupapa. In Daughter of Moloka'i we learn of Ruth's life in the orphanage on Oahu and her early crushing disappointments. We meet the Watanabes, the family that adopts her and moves to California, far from the stigma of Ruth's origins as a child born of lepers. And yet even in California, Ruth's heritage, and that of her Issei adoptive parents and siblings, results in their being interned in Manzanar during WWII. Ruth's life in San Jose, after the war, with her husband Frank and children, Donnie and Peggy, changes course on the day in 1948 that the postman delivers a letter from R. Utagawa. Ruth's understanding of her parent's life, and even the simple origin of her Japanese name, Dai, alters her worldview.

The moving story of Ruth's life is in some aspects less difficult than Rachel's but in others harder because of Ruth's struggle to understand the losses incurred in her early life. The depth of her biological mother Rachel's and adoptive mother Etsuko's love for her make for a truly moving story that unfolds along with the depiction of the palpable racism and marginalization of this era in American history. A must read for those who loved Moloka'i.

I received a Digital Review Copy of this book along with a paper review copy from St. Martin's Press via NetGalley.

Spanning more than 50 years (1917-1970), Daughter of Moloka'i follows Ruth, the daughter of lepers Rachel and Kenji, as she is brought to an orphanage, adopted by loving parents, moved to California, married -- and after the attack on Pearl Harbor -- held unjustly in a Japanese internment camp. I'd already read about the camps in Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet (4 stars), but this provided a different dimension and also included a bit about the atomic bombs dropped on Hiroshima.

If you loved Moloka'i (5 stars) as much as I did, then you will love finding out more about Ruth's life. Although I wasn't as enthralled with this one quite as much as the first, I did, however, enjoy revisiting and learning more about the characters while getting a glimpse into both Japanese and Hawaiian cultures.

Lastly, I'd also highly recommend Honolulu (5 stars) by this author. I read the latter while visiting Hawaii for the first time which made it even more memorable for me.

Location: Oahu, Hawaii and Florin, California

I received an advance copy of this book. All opinions are my own.

Daughter of Moloka'i was a beautiful novel that gives the reader a chance to experience both Japanese and Hawaiian cultures. Ruth is the orphaned baby of a couple that were living in a leprosy colony. To prevent babies from catching the disease, they had to be removed from the parents very early on. Unlike what seems to be the typical horror stories from orphanages and adoption, this novel was a beautiful but realistic portrayal of Ruth was treated kindly and loved at her orphanage, but also rejected by many potential families because of her mixed race status. She was part Hawaiian and part Japanese. At around age 5 Ruth was adopted by a Japanese family who already had three boys because they wanted a girl. She was loved from the start by this family and I was so glad to see a book portray this unique familial situation in this way.

Throughout Ruth's life, her family moved from Hawaii to California, just as American sentiment toward Japan and thus to Japanese was crumbling. Ruth's family eventually lost everything during the USA's four year period of Japanese Internment Camps due to WWII fears. The pain and loss caused by this time was also written evocatively without resorting to extremes. The situation was shocking, especially given that it was happening at a time when the world was fighting against the systematic removal and separation of one race. Thinking about this happening in the US less than 50 years before I was born is mind-blowing.

Finally, Ruth meets her birth mother Rachel. Again, the author portrayed this event in a beautiful way. Ruth's adopted family was not threatened by this relationship and the relationship didn't diminish the love or loyalty Ruth felt for them. Ruth simply had another family member to love her and her family.

Overall, this was a very uplifting familial tale that educated me on cultures outside my own, introduced me to aspects of American history I had not paid nearly enough attention to, and created a picture of Hawaii;s beauty that will stay with me until I am able to see it for myself.

Thanks to St. Martin's Press, Alan Brennert, and NetGalley for the advanced Ecopy of this novel in exchange for an honest review.

So maybe this book isn't perfect. But if it isn't, I didn't notice any imperfections. Maybe it is Mr. Brennert's writing style? Maybe it is his amazing character development? Maybe it is how he is able to weave fiction in with non-fiction so you don't know where one ends and the other begins? No matter what it is, I was pulled into the world of Ruth and her family and didn't want to leave. I will admit that I was a bit startled to be reading and thinking the story would take place in Hawaii only to find them quickly transported to Northern California. As this is where I live now, I was surprised (and thrilled) to learn some local history. I love how Mr. Brennert's stories educate us as much as entertain us. I will caution, though, that while many people are saying this can be a stand alone novel, please take the time to read the first book before you read this one. Having that background will make this book an even richer experience!

This book would have never crossed my radar if I hadn't gotten an email from the publisher inviting me to read it. The subject matter didn't particularly lure me in, but the fact that this was a follow-up to a beloved bestseller from years ago intrigued me. It prompted me to pick up the original book "Moloka'i" when I noticed it on a kindle sale. If I was going to read the follow-up, I wanted to experience the original. I'm very glad I did. "Moloka'i" was a wonderful reading experience. When you read a quality book such as this, it certainly raises the bar for what's next to come. Sadly (but not surprisingly), it didn't quite live up to the exquisite level of its predecessor.

To provide a synopsis of the original story, when 7 year old Rachel Kalama contracted leprosy in the late 1800s, she was forcibly removed from her family in Honolulu and sent to a leprosy settlement. She was lovingly raised by Franciscan nuns in an orphanage on Moloka'i. She made the best of her situation and managed to live as normal a life as possible, even marrying a Japanese man and having a child. However, within 24 hours of birth Rachel had to give up her baby, a girl she named Ruth. Babies of lepers were born without disease, but if they remained in contact they were susceptible.

The new book begins with a nun lovingly transporting baby Ruth to an orphanage one windy and rainy night. Ruth grows to be very precocious and has a passion for animals. Before she was adopted, she became aware of a dog who would cry outside the orphanage. She began secreting a portion of her dinner to later feed to the dog outside. There was a cow who would sometimes wander over from a neighboring farm onto the orphanage's property and Ruth would try to befriend it. She got quite a surprise when she pulled on the cow's teat and got raw milk sprayed into her face!

There were disappointments when some families seemed to be interested in Ruth, but decided to adopt someone else. Finally, when Ruth was 5 a couple came by specifically looking for a girl who was Japanese. Ruth's birth mother Rachel was Hawaiian, but her birth father Kenji was Japanese. Therefore, Ruth had Japanese-shaped eyes. Mr. and Mrs. Watanabe already had three sons, but Etsuko could no longer have children and desired a daughter. Ruth was enchanted when she found out that the Watanabes owned a black cat named Mayonaka, which means midnight. The Watanabes owned their own carpentry and construction business in Honolulu in a two-story structure with living quarters upstairs. This was a very brief part of the book because Mr. Taizo Watanabe's older brother Jiro enticed him to emigrate to Florin, California to share in a successful farming business with him.

So, the Watanabe family closes down their carpentry and construction business in Honolulu to emigrate to Florin, California for greater fortunes... only to find that Jiro was dishonest. Jiro's farming business was in financial distress because of mismanagement. Not only did he need the whole Watanabe family to become physical laborers to pick the fruit in the fields, he needed Taizo's financial advice to bring the farm out of the red and into the black. It was cause for rage and anger on Taizo's part that he uprooted his family out of a comfortable and sound financial situation into this mess because of Jiro's lies. However, like in all good books, the characters put their best foot forward to work really hard and make the best out of the situation they find themselves in.

The saddest part of the book was what happened after the attack on Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941. It was World War II, and upon the orders of U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt, Japanese Americans were rounded up and forcibly relocated and incarcerated in internment camps, most of whom lived on the Pacific coast. I found this part of the book most unpleasant and difficult to get through. On the one hand, it was inspiring to read about how the family stuck together as much as possible and through intense cleaning and creative decoration they made the best of an unpleasant housing situation. Also, the men used whatever skills they possessed to work- whether it be farming, food service or journalism. However, it was quite depressing to read about the plight of these Japanese Americans, who were proud to be Americans, having everything they worked for just taken away from them. Once the war was over, they had to start at ground zero once again, their former proprietary concerns lost to them.

As touched upon at the end of the original book "Moloka'i", through the writing of a letter Ruth's birth mother Rachel makes contact. Ruth is now an adult, married and with two children, and had no idea that her birth mother gave her up because she was forced to; because she was a leper. She had no idea that her birth mother loved her so much and thought about her each and every day. She also had no idea that Rachel bought and elaborately wrapped up a present for each and every one of Ruth's birthdays, that had never been able to be given. They now amounted to 35!

So, the book comes full circle with the reunion of Ruth and Rachel, and all of the beautiful emotions that would entail.

The main theme of the book as voiced by Rachel is her dismay at the irony of what happened to Ruth in the internment camps. Her first reaction was, "OH NO!! YOU were supposed to be FREE!!" Having read both of these books, I now see the parallel storylines more clearly than ever of their trials and tribulations; both families always trying to make the best of the worst situations when government entities are controlling them. These are both very fine books. I just enjoyed the first one a little bit more. You definitely could read this one as a standalone, but I would highly recommend reading them both for a most enriching experience.

Daughter of Moloka’i is the sequel to Moloka'i by Alan Brennert. And, unlike the first book, very little of it takes place on Moloka’i. I can’t discuss the plot without revealing at least one spoiler from the first book. So if you haven’t read Moloka’i, I’d suggest putting this review aside.

Moloka’i’s beloved Rachel comes back in this book. And while she’s a main character, this time the author focuses on her daughter Ruth. Ruth grows up in an adoptive family, so as not to expose her to Hansen’s disease (previously called leprosy).

Brennert follows Ruth from her time in the orphanage, to adjusting to life a family with different traditions, to being teased for her mixed, or “hapa,” Hawaiian and Japanese heritage.

And since her adoptive parents had emigrated from Japan, Ruth was also subject to WWII’s forced relocation and incarceration of Japanese immigrants and their American-born children. Although there were many concentration camps, one of the most well-known is Manzanar, which was north of Los Angeles. That’s where Ruth and her extended family are interned.

Brennert then tells what it was like for Ruth’s family to reestablish themselves after the war. Soon after that, Rachel and Ruth are reunited and the story continues on.

My conclusions
Alan Brennert does extensive research into the Japanese American experience in this time period, and it shows. He also has broad knowledge of Hawaiian traditions and culture, both past and present.

Daughter of Moloka’i is about the melding of cultures in a family—Hawaiian and Japanese in the older generation, and then American in the next. But Brennert doesn’t write it very naturally. Too many times, one person from a culture just stops to explain a point to a person from another culture. As much as the information is interesting, it was also more “telling” than “showing.” This made me feel like half the book was lecturing me.

My favorite part was the years Ruth’s family spent in the Japanese internment camps. Not favorite because it was fun and happy—because it’s the opposite of that. But because this is where the story shines. Brennert truly brings the real-life history and hardships to life through his characters.

It’s also worth noting that he and his publishers chose to launch this book today, February 19th. It’s the 77th anniversary of President Franklin Delano Roosevelt’s signing of Executive Order 9066, that committed all West Coast Japanese to the camps. Brennert honors the people who lived through this horrendous and unjust ordeal.

On the whole, this was a good book. But it wasn’t a great book for me. Moloka’i was so inspiring and focused on the resilience of its main character. Daughter of Moloka’i offered a new perspective, but felt more forced and less resplendent.

Acknowledgements
Many thanks to NetGalley, St. Martin’s Press, and the author for a digital advanced reader’s copy in exchange for this honest review.

It is impossibly rare that a widely beloved novel's sequel is as powerful as it is. Daughter of Moloka'i is that rarity. This book is as beautiful, epic, respectful and meaningful as the original and deserves every accolade that will surely arrive for it upon publication.

Brennert continues the Moloka'i story where he left off, telling the story of Rachel's daughter Ruth from her childhood in Hawai'i still ravaged by leprosy to a life on the mainland where she combats prejudice, gender roles, her status as a Japanese-Hawaiian person in America, and her own past.

This book is full of a history not often told. I learned way more than in any history class about the plight of Japanese Americans In the wake of World War II and the repercussions that those actions still have on Americans today. This book should be supplemental to every American History high school course.

The writing in this novel is lush but never superfluous. I was gripped by the twists and turns and glorious prose. Brennert's research is deft and clear. This is already my best book of 2019 and I am sure that it will still top thee list at the end of the year.

I had Alan Brennert’s book, Moloka’i, on my to read list for too long. When I received this book, I pushed Moloka’i up to the top of my list. It was my favorite book read so far this year. Then I read Daughter of Moloka’i and was not disappointed! What a beautiful companion novel to Moloka’i. I loved this book just as much as the first.

Daughter of Moloka’i takes you through the life of Ruth beginning with her as an infant being brought to the orphanage on Oahu by Sister Catherine, who we first met in Moloka’i. Ruth was taken away from her mother, Rachel, because she and her husband had leprosy. She was not allowed to stay with her parents for fear that she would contract the disease.

This book takes us through Ruth’s upbringing with her adoptive parents and through their time at the internment camps. Your heart will break all over again for both Rachel and Ruth. I struggled not to cry reading this one. Beautifully written. Alan Brennert is truly a gifted story teller.

Many thanks to Netgalley and St. Martin’s Press for this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

4.5 stars rounded up to 5

Having read Alan Brennert’s masterpiece Moloka’i (published back in 2004) for the first time just last month – a book whose story and characters I fell head over heels in love with – I went into the sequel Daughter of Moloka’i with extremely high anticipation. I knew that this second book would be about Ruth – the daughter that Rachel had been forced to give up in the original story – and also that it would expand upon the reunion scene as well as Ruth and Rachel’s subsequent 22 year relationship that were all only briefly mentioned in the first book. What I wasn’t expecting was that this part of the story (the connection back to Moloka’i and Rachel’s story) would only be covered in less than a third of the book. Perhaps it was because the story in Moloka’i had done such a number on my heart and Rachel as well as the other characters in there were so memorable and beloved to me, to the point that I was expecting that connection to play a more central role in the sequel. Don’t get me wrong though….I’m not saying that I’m disappointed because I’m truly not, as the story in Daughter of Moloka’i was still beautifully rendered and the historical significance of everything that had happened during World War II – specifically, in this case, the Japanese internment camps across the U.S. and the suffering across the board during the war – was well-depicted in a story that was necessary to be told. I also grew to love Ruth and all the other characters in this story and just like with Moloka’i, I found this to be a hugely emotional read – one that made me cry but also made me smile at certain parts, a story that covered similar themes of family, love, and strength in the face of adversity. Brennert also did a fantastic job incorporating the various aspects of Japanese culture into the story, which I definitely appreciated given that I wasn’t too familiar with the culture and so was able to greatly expand my knowledge after reading this book.

With all that said, the best way to describe my feelings toward this book is this: taken on its own merit, this was an excellent read, and if it had been a standalone novel with no connection to a previous story, I would absolutely rate it 5 stars without question….but as a sequel to the exquisite, beloved, “one-of-a-kind” Moloka’i (now officially on my “favorites of all-time” list), I have to admit that this one fell a tad bit short for me in terms of how long it took to re-connect with Rachel’s story. Once that reconnection was made though, it was absolutely perfect! The way Brennert wrapped up Rachel’s story and intertwined it with Ruth’s in the end was wonderful and quite frankly, it turned my heart to mush all over again. In the end, I decided to give this one 4.5 stars rounded up to 5 because for me, Moloka’i had what I can only describe as a “magical” quality to it that made it such a special read (one that I can’t stop thinking about even now) and while Daughter of Moloka’i was wonderful in its own right, it didn’t quite replicate that “magic” for me, at least not until the last third of the book. Regardless though, this sequel is still a “must-read,” especially for those who read the first book.

And here is where my opinion differs from most of the other reviewers: this is one of those sequels where I feel that knowing the backstory makes a world of difference. While yes, it’s true that this can technically be read as a “standalone” for those who choose to do so, I strongly recommend reading Moloka’i first before attempting this one, as there is too much important background information about Rachel and what she went through in the first story that impacts Ruth’s story, to the point that, I feel, it’s impossible to experience the full effect of this story without that one. For me, I’m tremendously glad that I got the chance to read both books in order…not only that, I now also have yet another “favorite author” to add to my ever-growing list. I look forward to reading whatever historical novel Brennert chooses to write next – I just hope we don’t have to wait another 15 years for it!

Received ARC from St. Martin’s Press via NetGalley

Moloka’i told the story of Rachel Utagawa, nee Kalama, who lived in the Kalaupapa lazaretto from age 7 when she was diagnosed with leprosy. This book follows her daughter Ruth’s life, from the moment she was taken away from Rachel and her husband Kenji, for her health’s sake. Dear Reader watches her adoptive parents choose her, the half-Japanese, half-Hawaiian 5-year-old at the orphanage, sees her come of age on a California farm, and witnesses her incarceration in the Japanese internment camps in the US during WWII, along with her parents, brothers, husband, and children. This novel connects with the first one when Ruth meets Rachel, in the same scene from Ruth’s perspective this time, a brilliant and heartening re-telling of an emotionally charged meeting.

Brennert traverses the nuances of racism, fear of contagion, and human rights as he tells of the horror of being found out as a victim of leprosy in late 19th / early 20th century Hawai’i, and the dread of a child separated from her family to live with strangers. As with especially well-written historical fiction, the setting of Hawai’i / Moloka’i becomes its own character, showing Hawai’i’s children growing up surfing, the US stealing the islands from the last monarch, Queen Lili’uokalani, and the evolution of the lazaretto. Brennert touches upon Hawai’ian and Japanese honor, race relations and the lack of internment camps for Japanese in Hawai’i. He digs deep into Hawai’ian folklore, with a supporting character who is a native healer, how the “separating sickness” destroys families, and how friendship blends into family.

I was fortunate to receive a copy of this beautiful novel from St. Martin’s Press. I highly recommend reading Moloka’i for full immersion into the multi-generational story.

I've scheduled the review to post to my blog February 25, and I will share on social media and retailers.

This is the much-anticipated sequel to Brennert’s 2003 novel Moloka’i, but this is more of a companion and can certainly be read alone, if readers are not familiar with the first novel. Daughter of Moloka’i tells the story of Ruth Utagawa, the daughter of lepers, who is taken away as a baby from her parents and placed in an orphanage. Ruth is adopted by a loving Japanese couple, the Watanabes, and brought to their home as an honored daughter. The family eventually relocates to California to run a strawberry farm where Ruth grows up, falls in love and marries. They experience the hardships of the Great Depression and the unjust struggles of the WWII Japanese internment camps. Eventually the Ruth and her family return to California to try to restart their lives. Ruth then receives a letter from her birth mother, asking to meet and she finally learns the story of her parents and their harrowing experience living with leprosy.

Daughter of Moloka’i takes the reader on a powerful journey of emotions and history. Whether or not you have read the first book, be sure and pick this one up for a beautifully written and lyrical account of the Japanese experience in 20th century America.

"Moloka'i," Brennert's first historical fiction in this series, has clear, die-hard fans (myself amongst them), so I knew I had to read the sequel to find out what happens to Ruth, Rachel's daughter. But boy, did Brennert deliver far more than just Ruth. This novel felt like a saga and absolutely captivated me. I was so intensely invested in the characters that the pages and chapters flew by. My husband and kids would pass by me reading and I don't even recall what they might have said to me. I was *deep* into this book until the very last page.

Personally, this book felt as if it was written for me. As a hapa (Japanese mother, American father) and a very frequent visitor to Hawaii, the pigdin and the Japanese words, the culture of filial piety and Hawaiian ohana, and the deep dedication to honor in both cultures felt more than familiar to me, it desrcibed my own upbringing. But what Brennert also brings is emotional enlightenment to the plight of Japanese Americans in the internment camps in California and on the West Coast during WWII. I knew embarrassingly little about this dark period in California's history or about the pervasive anti-japanese discrimination that harkens the fear and feelings of the Jim Crow era here in my own home state. Moreover, much of the Watanabe family's history is in the farmlands of Northern California, also my hometown, so Brennert's deft storytelling about the ever-resourceful, community-oriented and hard-working Japanese farming families around here felt familiar on dual planes.
There's so much to unpack in Daughter of Moloka'i, so much to reflect on, that it will take me more time to fully process. I am Nissei and Brennert accurately portrays the push and pull between the Issei generation and their offspring in a way I haven't read elsewhere. I know I'll be thinking of this book and remembering parts of it when I go visit my family in Japan later this Fall, when I visit our local Japanese strawberry grower this summer, when I chat with my dad (a WWII buff) about the Japanese internment, when I chat with my mom about how hard it was for her when she first immigrated here in the early 1960s. I'll carry this book with me because in many ways, it is me, just a few decades later. Bravo Mr. Brennert! And thank you for writing a story, truly a family saga, that draws us in, makes us care so deeply about this family and breaks our hearts, but inspires us, for their "gaman."

Received an advanced copy in exchange for a fair review.

More than 15 years after writing Moloka'i, Alan Brennert returns to the characters and world he built but tells the story of Ruth, the daughter Rachel Kalama was forced to give up at birth because of Rachel's leprosy. I read Moloka'i two years ago (and cried) and Daughter of Moloka'i was no different, especially once the two books begin dove-tailing at the end.

For as much WWII historical fiction I read, it is almost exclusively European. I learned about Executive Order 9066 and the Japanese internment camps in school and I knew the broad strokes of how horrific they were, but I don't think I've ever read fiction that took me inside the day-to-day indignities and struggles of American citizens who were unfortunate enough to "look like the enemy."

It's infuriating and heartbreaking to read about especially knowing how little has changed, in some respects, about how some Americans perceive who their enemy is and how they treat fellow citizens they feel comfortable making an "other."

Brennert once again shows his extremely detailed research from Hawaii to the mainland and explores a breadth of experiences that pull you into a family through decades and make you cry at the end. The last section started to lose my interest toward the end but this was still a worthwhile read.

I love this author and this book didn’t fail. I thought it was going to be a sequel to Moloka’i but it isn’t! It’s an independent story but the main character’s life begins on leper island. He’s such a wonderful writer and I recommend his books often!