Best-selling author Alan Brennert blends history and fiction to showcase Hawaii's dynamic past in this captivating novel. Set in the 1920s and 1930s, Honolulu explores the stark contrast between the image of the glamorous Hawaiian paradise portrayed to the mainland and the harsh reality of life on the island. With characters as vivid and richly descriptive as the history of Hawaii itself, this novel is sure to enthrall listeners.
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"excellent!! i think i liked it even better than moloka'i i really liked how she/he gave a bit of backstory to some of the Korean traditions/customs. i think it REALLY added to the story and helped the reader to understand what was happening. again.. EXCELLENT!! " — Mich (5 out of 5 stars)
"excellent!! i think i liked it even better than moloka'i i really liked how she/he gave a bit of backstory to some of the Korean traditions/customs. i think it REALLY added to the story and helped the reader to understand what was happening. again.. EXCELLENT!! "
“To its core, Honolulu is meticulously researched…Brennert portrays the Aloha State’s history as complicated and dynamic—not simply a melting pot, but a Hawaiian-style ‘mixed plate’ in which, as Jin sagely notes, ‘many different tastes share the plate, but none of them loses its individual flavor, and together they make up a uniquely “local” cuisine.’”
“Successful historical fiction doesn’t just take a story and doll it up with period detail. It plunges readers into a different world and defines the historical and cultural pressures the characters face in that particular time and place…This is a moving, multilayered epic by a master of historical fiction, in which one immigrant’s journey helps us understand our nation’s ‘becoming.’”
“A well-researched and deftly written tale…For sheer readability, it’s a hit…Brennert has a good eye for places we can’t see anymore: plantation life before the unions gained power; Chinatown when it was all tenements; Waikiki before the high-rises started going up. And it’s clear he has real affection for the little people and places he so vividly brings to life. He’s not just using historic Honolulu as a place to set a novel; he's bringing it to life for people who haven’t had the chance to imagine it before.”
“A sweeping, meticulously researched saga that sees its plucky heroine, a mistreated but independent-minded Korean mail-order bride, through the highs and lows of life in twentieth-century Hawaii, this book extends our readers’ tradition of favoring lush, flavorful historical novels.”
" This is an interesting novel about a Korean picture bride and her life in Hawaii from the early 1900s through mid-century. It's somewhere between a good beach read and better literature and is worth reading. Learned a lot about Hawaii pre-statehood. "
" Regret is a young Korean woman who travels to Hawaii in 1914 as a "picture bride." This book tells the story of her life and encounters with different cultures. This book is even better than Brennert's first book, Moloka'i. "
" I enjoyed getting to know the culture & history. The author did a great job of making the story come alive "
" Just got alittle to long. Didn't get into her emotions just events in her life. "
" Excellent, excellent book! Historical fiction of Hawaii's melting pot as seen though the eye of a Korean "picture bride". Fabulous! I loved the characters and was sad to read the "last word". "
" I read this a while back and I'm trying to remember the name and details of the system Jin and her friends used to pool their resources and start businesses. Can anyone help me look it up?Thanks, "
" Not nearly as good as Molaka'i by the same author. That one was AMAZING. "
" Still on my Hawaii kick. The book does a good job of describing what could happen to a picture bride, but I didn't find the story line as interesting as Molokai. "
" Historical and also gives you fact about Japanese and Korean's relation ship. More interesting is the picture bride case. "
Ali Ahn is a film, television, and voice actor. Her acting credits include appearances on Law & Order, Ugly Betty, White Collar, and Zero Hour. She has also narrated numerous audio books, such as Honolulu by Alan Brennert, This Lullaby by Sarah Dessen, Persian Pickle Club by Sandra Dallas, and Super Sad True Love Story by Gary Shteyngart.
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