https://mississippimomreads.weebly.com/blog/daughter-of-molokai-by-alan-brennert-review


A few years ago I read the book Moloka'i by Alan Brennert for my local book club and everyone enjoyed it. When I saw that the sequel was in the works, I was very excited to see Rachel's story continue.

Daughter of Moloka'i is a book about Rachel's daughter, Ruth, who was born inside a lepers' colony in 1917. Because Rachel was quarantined for most of her life to due leprosy, (those with the disease were forced to live on Moloka'i and be quarantined...a life sentence), Rachel was forced to give up her daughter for adoption immediately after birth. This book continues the story of Ruth's life after she was adopted.

This book is divided into three parts:
Hapa (a native Hawaiian word that means half - Ruth is half Japanese and half Hawaiian)
Gaman: Japanese term of Buddhist origin that means "enduring the seemingly unbearable with patience and dignity:
Ohana: Hawaiian word that means family

The first part details Ruth's life in the orphanage, and her transition into her new life as an adopted daughter. The story follows this family's journeys to begin a new life in California in the 1920s. Ruth is adopted into a loving Japanese family and she quickly learns what it means to be Japanese and learn their customs and traditions. They begin a new chapter in California where there are many anti-Japanese groups in the Sacramento area. As time passes, and the WWII attack on Pearl Harbor occurs, President FDR then orders for all residents of Japanese descent (citizens or not), to be sent to live in the Internment Camps.

The second part of the book is about their life preparing to go, and to eventually live in the Internment Camps. This sparked my curiosity in learning more about the families who made up the 120,000 Japanese Americans who were sent to live in these awful camps for 1-2 years. The family endured hardships, both physically and emotionally, (they lived in a horse stall!), but strived to stick together in order to endure.

The third part of the book centers around an adult Ruth, who is learning the story of her origins and how her family grows and adapts as she reconnects with her past.

This is my 3rd novel to enjoy by Alan Brennert and his writing is very strong, thoroughly researched, and really draws you in. His character driven novels draw you close to Rachel and her family. I truly enjoyed the book, and I appreciate the opportunity to access an Advanced Readers Copy for review.

I would like to thank NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for my advanced copy in exchange for my honest review.

Daughter of Moloka'i will be released on Tuesday, February 20!

Daughter of Moloka'i is the anticipated follow-up to Alan Brennert's highly successful, book club favorite Moloka'i, the evocative story of Rachel, a woman with leprosy who is forced to surrender her child, Ruth, upon birth. This is Ruth's story.

Daughter of Moloka'i is told in three very distinct parts: Ruth's life after she is removed from the leper colony, adopted and her subsequent move to the states; her time spent in an internment camp during WWII, and then her life after the war ends. Brennert's prose is atmospheric and descriptive which allows the reader to embrace a sense of both the Hawaiian and Japanese cultures as well as the horrors of the depression and war. However, there are times that a bit of self-editing would have gone long way. Like William Faulkner, Brennert suffers from the need to use 15 words when one very well placed adjective would suffice. This resulted in the book dragging in several places. In addition, it has been stated in pre-publication reviews that this book works as a stand-alone. It doesn't, not really. If you've read the first book I can understand that you might think so. If you have not read the first book, you will find yourself trying to fill several story gaps.

I appreciate other readers' rave review for this one. It is a lovely book but not one that I savored or can fully recommend.

Thank you to #netgalley and St. Martin's Press for the opportunity to read and review Daughter of Moloka'i.

<b>Release date February 19th!</b>

On December 7, 1941 more than 2,000 Americans lost their lives at Pearl Harbor. In the days that followed, intolerance and prejudice would lead to the ouster and internment of over 100,000 Americans of Japanese heritage.

<img src="https://apjjf.org/data/5008-1-04.jpg" alt="Dorothea Lange"/>

Alan Brennert does such a fine job of bringing our buried history to light. Where <b>Moloka'i</b> focused on hysteria surrounding leprosy, this second installation bears witness to the Japanese internment camps during WWII. <b>Daughter of Moloka'i</b>, like its predecessor is a sweeping saga that speaks to the resilience of the human spirit. I do not know what took me so long to find my way to <b>Moloka'i</b> but I'm glad that I had the opportunity to read these two books. Both of the protagonists were well developed and their story lines resonate as a warning for our current time. Although either book can easily be read as stand alone novels, I was pleased with how well <b>Daughter of Moloka'i</b> incorporated Rachel's story and allowed the reader to revisit their reunion and see their relationship grow.

<i>Special thanks to NetGalley, St. Martin's Press and Alan Brennert for access to this book.</i>

I do realize that my opinion and review is totally outlier. I totally respect all the 4 and 5 star reviews that are out there, but that was not my experience with this book and I cannot, in good faith, write a review that matches the masses when that is not my experience.

I L O V E D Moloka'i. Loved it. What a beautiful, lush, amazing book. I was completely captivated from the first page and while I have loved Hawaii for years [my grandparent's took multiple trips there and always brought us back gifts and stories and several of my favorite books are set there and one of the first biographies I ever read as a young girl was about the last Queen of Hawaii], but I actually knew little about Moloka'i and Kalaupapa and all that went on for the poor people who developed Leprosy. So while it was an amazing book, it was also educational and made me want to book a trip to Hawaii to be able to and pay my respects to the people that suffered and lived there.

Fast forward to Daughter of Moloka'i [which, in all fairness, was not even on my radar. My bestie read Moloka'i and then found out about the sequel and convinced me [strongly] to read Moloka'i and request Daughter of Moloka'i to read with her], which I was pretty excited to dive into since I had just finished Moloka'i and was still awash in the glow and hangover that came from reading that book. And so I started and well....it was just meh. And I thought, "Okay, its just a slow start, that is okay", and then I was at 40% and I still felt that way and I checked in with my friend and she was where I was too and we were like "what the HECK went wrong?", and that feeling just continued as I read on.

To quote my friend Joy Walsh "I believe Brennert likes Rachel much more than he likes Ruth." and I agree with that. The story of Rachel just flows and sucks you in while the story of Ruth feels like its being forced and seems flat and disingenuous until she meets Rachel and when they are back in Hawaii and then, and ONLY then, does the story begin to flow again. All the time in California is very flat and one dimensional. Even the time spent in the interment camps [and I have read 4 books before this about that time - it is HORRIFIC and should absolutely have never happened and is a huge stain on this country that we are still dealing and healing from - IF you want an excellent book about this time, I suggest "When the Emperor Was Divine" by Julie Otsuka or IF you can find it {I found one copy on Thriftbooks, but I have seen it in the Reader's Digest version on eBay} "East and West" by Gerald Green <--THAT was the first book I read about the Japanese Interments and as a young girl I was absolutely and completely horrified] was bland - tepid. For all the research the author did on this time in history, there is little evidence of it in what and how he writes about that time and that is very disappointing. I am sure that just as I knew nothing about Moloka'i and Kalaupapa, there are people who know nothing of that time in our history and this would have been an amazing opportunity to shed some true light on what happened during that time and instead you get a tepid and bland experience. And then you get a totally gimmicky [and it is not the first time in the book that gimmicky writing is used] end and that was totally disappointing as well.

It is always disappointing when you get a sequel to a book you loved and that sequel falls flat. That is absolutely what happened for me here. No book hangover. No even thinking about the book. Just relief that the book is done and I can move on. And that, makes me very sad.

Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin Press for providing this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

This is a beautifully researched and written sequel to the beloved original Molokai. It is difficult to read about the Japanese internment camps, but it is a part of our nation’s history. We learn something from these books, as most of us know nothing about leprosy and the harsh realities of that life. This is a lovely story with characters that you care about. It is both heart-breaking and heart-warming.

I was given an advanced readers copy of Daughter of Moloka'i by Netgalley and the Publisher in exchange for an honest review. I read the prequel by Alan Brennert, Moloka'i and really enjoyed it, so I was excited to read more about Rachel's daughter, Ruth. Ruth was adopted by a Japanese family living in California and their lives through the decades. The book discusses the Japanese internment during World War II, which is something I knew very little about. It also tells Ruth's side of the story when she is contacted by her biological mother as an adult and their relationship after that. Daughter of Moloka'i is a beautiful, yet sad book. Brennert is able to weave historical and fiction together that tells a story that feels true. I would encourage you to read Daughter of Moloka'i even if you have not read Moloka'i.

I was so excited to read the sequel to a most incredible story, Moloka’i. Unfortunately, Daughter of Moloka’i falls quite short of its predecessor. The story and characters seem to flatten as soon as the setting moves from Hawaii to California. The account of the internment camps is quite similar, if not as engaging and memorable, as others I have read.

I believe Brennert likes Rachel much more than he likes Ruth. When Rachel is in the story, there is a return to the rich emotional depth and beauty that made Moloka’i so amazing. Book 2 has flashes of that magic, but is, for the most part, disappointing.

An amazing epic novel that follows the life of an orphan whose mother had leprosy and was forced to place her in an orphanage. She was also mixed race leading her to experience many challenges. Love, friendships, family and American history (not our proud parts) are depicted in this story. I learned a lot and truly enjoyed the gorgeous scenery described in parts. This book has something for everyone!

Years and years ago, someone recommended Moloka’i by Alan Brennert and I remember thinking, “Meh, doesn’t sound like something I’d like but I’ll give it a whirl…” and I ended up loving it. I have had this reaction many times and have been pleasantly surprised over the years. Now I am really excited to read Daughter of Moloka’i which is coming out later this month! YAY!

I haven’t read the whole thing yet but wanted to be sure to put this book on your radar as it will be here on February 19.

Here’s what you need to know:

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.

From the early reviews, this is another winning novel. rich in detail and well researched with a gripping plot. So exciting when you get to read the sequel to a book you loved!

Oh where to start. This author just knows how to write a historical fiction book. I am so sad it’s over. Yet loved it so much. I have so many reactions and emotions to this book I don’t know how to put them into words. I’m so in awe at how brennert can write a sequel that is also a stand-alone. It’s impressive. All his books are a must read.

Can I give this book SIX stars?? If you've followed my blog or any bookish social media postings I've made regarding my all time favorite books, Moloka'i is at the top of my list. I reviewed it here on the blog in April 2014. It gives some good background to the first book and why I loved it so much, but I HIGHLY recommend you read the first book before reading this one. For one, Moloka'i is fantastic, and for two, this book will mean so much more if you've read the first one. Go to the bookstore right now and buy both of them! You will thank me!!

I'll admit I was worried when I first heard about this one. Sometimes sequels aren't nearly as good, and fans of Moloka'i have been waiting YEARS for this one. I'm happy to report--this one was absolutely worth the wait and JUST AS GOOD as Moloka'i! I can't believe I doubted Brennert here--I loved his other Hawaiian novel, Honolulu. PLEASE write more Hawaii books, Mr. Brennert! I'll never doubt you again!

I feel like Ruth is my soul sister. Her love for animals touched my heart and reminded me of myself and my grandma. I too loved animals from a very young age. The historical aspect of Japanese internment camps during World War 2 was also interesting, and sad of course, but I learned so much about that period of history. The last third of the book was when Ruth connected with Rachel, and just gave me all the feels and tears. This was a beautifully written, well researched, fantastic book that is included in my all time list of favorite books, along with Moloka'i. I can't say enough good things about this book--it is an absolute must read!

A splendid continuation of a beautiful story. I truly thought nothing could touch me as Molokai did, I was wrong. My emotions rode a roller coaster as I followed Ruth from her life of isolation on Molokai to a new beginning in California. Her new home and adopted family, Japanese farmers, held the promise of a brighter future. With the bombing of Pearl Harbor, Ruth was again the victim of isolation in the internment camp Manzanar. Woven through this story is the relationship Ruth shares with Rachael whom she learns is her birth mother. Two women in vastly different situations, yet remarkably alike, learn to share a love long thought impossible. Daughter of Molokai is a window into both Hawaiian and Japanese cultures amidst the difficulties of life, family and love.

Amazing historical fiction! Daughter of Moloka'i, while works as a stand alone, is the perfect sequel to Moloka'i. Brennert fills in the shadows of his first with this beautiful new novel. Beginning with Ruth's infanthood and following her story through childhood, the insanity of the Japanese internment camps of WW2, and finally the years were she is reunited with the woman who started it all. Every page was beautifully written and full of thought provoking prose. I absolutely loved this book!! Thank you to Netgalley and St. Martin's Press for the ARC.

Ruth, the daughter of two patients at Moloka'i is adopted by the Watanabes, a Japanese couple, when she's just a child. They keep her history from her- it's enough that she's half Japanese and half Hawaiian= but that doesn't bother her. This story sweeps from Honolulu to California to Manzanar and back and much of it focuses on the time she spent with her family in the internment camps. That will never be right. The Watanabes, Ruth, and her husband Frank lose so much in material goods but never their sense of family devotion. And, Ruth, an animal lover from childhood, always has a pet, even at the camp when she rescues Snowball. This is a deeply emotional and yet restrained novel although there are some truly heartbreaking scenes. Wait for the end. For fans of Molokai, you should know that there's very little about the leper facility. It's perfect as a standalone. Thanks to netgalley for the ARC. A very good (and educational) read.

I was so very excited to see that Alan Brennert wrote a second book about Moloka'i.

This book could easily be read as a stand-alone, however, I think it really enhances it by reading Moloka'i first. Daughter of Moloka'i is not about the the leprosy colony of Moloka'i. It is about a daughter that is born to lepers in the colony. The daughter's name is Ruth. Ruth is adopted to a Japanese-American family and then moved to California. The move to California coincides with WWII. This book is predominately about Ruth and her family in the relocation camps after Pearl Harbor.

I really enjoy Brennert's descriptive writing. His descriptions of Hawaii and California are beautiful. The time frame of this book is from the 1930's until the 1960's. There is so much that happens in that time frame, that there were times where the story felt rushed. I could have read about the relocation camps in more detail. (Now, I am going to go find more books about them)

I am so glad that Brennert did write this follow up book. Not quite as good as the first, but still worth reading.

Compelling and sad historical fiction. Daughter of Moloka’i by Alan Brennert is a companion novel to the marvelous Moloka’i which told the story of Rachel, who was stricken with leprosy and lived on the island of Moloka’i. Rachel has a daughter, named Ruth, and Daughter of Moloka’i is Ruth’s story.
Daughter of Moloka’i starts off in Honolulu, and then soon moves to the farmlands of Florin, California, which is near Sacramento. Ruth, who is half Hawaiian and half Japanese, is adopted by a Japanese couple, and flourishes in her new life and family. I loved the characters of Ruth’s adopted parents, Taizo and Etsuko Watanabe, and also Ruth’s brothers. Both Taizo and Etsuko exhibited quiet strength that holds their family together while experiencing racism upon arriving in California and also during the horrific internment camps of WWII. The sections of the book set at the Manzanar Relocation Center were tough to read and intense.
I liked Ruth well enough. I didn’t connect with her as much as I did with Rachel, from Moloka’i, and so couldn’t muster up a whole lot of enthusiasm when reading her story, but I still was interested in what she was doing and what was happening in her life.
While reading Daughter of Moloka’i I couldn’t help comparing it to Moloka’i, and while it was a good historical fiction read, I didn’t love it the way I loved Moloka’i. Daughter of Moloka’i is quite good, but they are very different books. For me, I couldn’t connect to it and the characters as well. I found it to be overly sad, and while there are happy moments in the book, and some lovely characters, I just felt an overwhelming sadness while reading this. You don’t need to have read Moloka’i in order to appreciate Daughter of Moloka’i. The two books highlight each other, and each tell a complete story, and while we get a continuation of Rachel’s story here, enough is explained about her past that you won’t feel lost while reading.

Bottom Line: Compelling and sad.

Daughter of Molokai is the first novel I’ve read by Alan Brennert. This novel introduced me to a part of history that often goes unnoticed. My heartstrings were tugged at so many times while reading. I high,y recommend reading this upcoming novel.

I was given an Advanced Reader Copy through NetGalley.

I loved this story. My only complaint is that the characters didn’t spend enough time in Hawaii. The setting was one of the things that made Molokai so wonderful to read. While Daughters of Molokai is an engaging continuation of that story, I was expecting a bit more of the Hawaiian atmosphere.

In Alan Brennert’s sequel, readers follow the child Ruth as she is put in an orphanage and eventually adopted. I felt her adoptive family was so pivotal to the story. As Ruth adjusts to her new family, she eventually forgets her life in the orphanage. The family endures many changes throughout her growing up years.

A major event in their lives was the move to California, where her father learns some unsettling news about his older brother. Later, the bombing of Pearl Harbor leads to the incredibly sad time Ruth and her family spend in an internment camp during WWII.

Growing up, Ruth was often bothered by being “half.” Half Japanese and half Hawaiian, Ruth was left with a sense of not completely belonging. Eventually meeting her biological mother and learning more about her Hawaiian culture helps Ruth to reconcile her dual heritage.

Many thanks to NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press for allowing me to read an advance copy and give my honest review.

I recently read the novel Moloka'i, the story of Rachel Kalama's life from the time she arrived at the leprosy settlement Kalaupapa at age seven until her tentative release at the age of sixty-one.
If you read my glowing review of that book, you'll know I was excited to begin the sequel, Daughter of Moloka'i, that follows the life of Rachel's daughter, Ruth, who was placed for adoption and we only briefly met at the end of Moloka'i.

With Rachel's story still so fresh in my mind, I devoured Daughter of Moloka'i and shed a lot of tears.
Sister Catherine travels from Moloka'i to Honolulu with Rachel and Kenji's one-year-old daughter Ruth, where Ruth is placed in the care of nuns at the Kapi'olani Home for Girls with the hope she will be adopted.

Ruth is a precocious child who has a stubborn streak and a love of animals. When she is five, a Japanese couple visit Kapi'olani and meet Ruth, who they immediately fall in love with and choose to adopt.
Ruth, who has desperately longed for a family, suddenly becomes the little sister to three older brothers and is fascinated by the Japanese language and culture she is learning. She knows little about herself other than that she is "hapa"; half Hawaiian and half Japanese.

The family soon moves from Honolulu to a farm in Florin, California.  Ruth's father has been led to believe he will become part owner of his older brother's successful farm and he will once again work the land.  It isn't until the family arrives that the brother confides he is buried in debt and cannot even afford to hire laborers to pick the crops.
Ruth's father doesn't tell his family of the dire financial situation but tries his best to turn the situation around for everyone involved.
Ruth grows up on the farm, taking care of animals and dreaming of a future as a veterinarian.  She falls in love and marries a man named Frank and they have two children, Peggy and Donald.  Playing out in the background for the entirety of Ruth's childhood is the mounting fear white Americans have toward Japanese people. It begins with separating the white and Japanese children in schools and then turns into national hysteria after the Imperial Japanese Navy bombed Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941.

Two months after the attack on Pearl Harbor, President Roosevelt authorizes the internment of around 120,000 people of Japanese ancestry (over half are United States citizens) in military areas around the West Coast.

Ruth's entire family is sent to Manzanar Relocation Camp where they spend years in fear and deplorable living conditions.  
Her father struggles with his allegiance to a country that will not allow him to become a legal citizen or own a piece of land to farm, yet wants him to denounce the country of his birth.
Ruth watches in shock and disgust as everything her family worked hard for and earned fairly is taken away from them.
Three years go by inside the camp - three years of anger, riots, and fear.  Ruth's aunt and uncle choose to return to Japan to be with their son who was deported early in the war. Her father is sent to a "higher security risk" camp because of his answers to questions about the war and his views, where he dies of pneumonia.

When the family is finally released from Manzanar, they are very different people and they return to Florin, a town they barely recognize.  There is too much hurt and anger to stay.
Ruth and Frank move with their children and Ruth's mother to San Jose to begin a fresh chapter in their lives.  

An unexpected letter arrives in the mail one morning, all the way from Honolulu.  Inside is a letter that will change Ruth's life forever.  
Her birth mother, Rachel Utagawa, has reached out in hopes of speaking with her long lost daughter.
Ruth's entire story is heartbreaking but this is where I finally lost it!  While reading about Ruth's life, I couldn't help but think about how Rachel would've felt knowing the things her daughter had gone through.  Reaching the point where Ruth and Rachel's stories finally intertwine and getting Ruth's thoughts and perspective this time, gaaaah, cue the waterworks!

I absolutely loved seeing Ruth and her adoptive mom Etsuko discuss why they adopted Ruth and the beautiful story behind their choice.  Etsuko was so considerate of her daughter's feelings and supportive of her choices.  She knew Ruth would feel divided by her loyalty to her and she let her daughter know it was not only possible but wonderful that she had two mothers to love her unconditionally.  Etsuko was strong and secure in her love for her child and accepted Rachel with open arms, which allowed Ruth to do the same.
We get to see Rachel's natural assimilation into Ruth's life and family; the beautiful dynamic of what could've easily been an awkward or uncertain situation.  The progression of their relationship was beautiful and incredibly emotional.

After reading about Ruth's time in Manzanar and then again reading the scene where she discusses it with Rachel, I was sobbing:

"'You were supposed to be free,' Rachel said in a whisper. 'You were never supposed to know what it was like to be taken from your home---separated from your family---to be shunned and feared.' Then, so softly Ruth could barely hear: 'That was all I had to give you.'" *

S o b b i n g. Do you hear me? Ughhhhh. So heartbreaking.

While Daughter of Moloka'i could be read as a standalone, please trust me when I say you will benefit from reading Moloka'i first and Daughter of Moloka'i immediately afterward for maximum emotional impact.  
Have some tissues ready.  
Then be prepared to find yourself lost in a rabbit hole of Wikipedia articles and library holds on leprosy, the history of Moloka'i, and Japanese American internment camps.

Brennert did an impressive amount of research on all the subject matter covered in both novels.  They are heartbreaking subjects that are not easy to discuss and even harder to come to terms with (yeah, they still don't teach students in American History class about the Japanese American internment camps) but they are handled with care and skill.  The stories of Rachel and Ruth may be fiction but I connected with these characters on a deep level and will not soon forget them.

Many thanks to St. Martin's Press and NetGalley for providing me with an ARC in exchange for my honest review.  Daughter of Moloka'i is scheduled for release on February 19, 2019.

*The quote included is from a digital advance readers copy and is subject to change upon final publication.

Parallels to the holocaust in Germany, this story details mistreatment of Japanese in America during the same era while also illustrating a person affected by Leprosy and her child given up for adoption