Daughter of Moloka'i

By: Alan Brennert

Narrated by: Tamlyn Tomita

Length: 14 hrs and 20 mins

Publisher's summary

The highly anticipated sequel to Alan Brennert’s acclaimed book club favorite, and national best seller, Moloka'i

Alan Brennert’s beloved novel Moloka'i, currently has over 600,000 copies in print. This companion tale tells the story of Ruth, the daughter that Rachel Kalama - quarantined for most of her life at the isolated leprosy settlement of Kalaupapa - was forced to give up at birth.

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 strawberry and grape 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. Told in vivid, evocative prose that conjures up the beauty and history of both Hawaiian and Japanese cultures, it’s the powerful and poignant tale that listeners of Moloka'i have been awaiting for 15 years.

©2019 Alan Brennert (P)2019 Recorded Books

Daughter of Moloka’i

I thoroughly enjoyed this sequel to the book called Molokai. This,too, is a historical novel. While Molokai deals with the plight of the Hawaiians inflicted with Hansen’s Disease and life in a leper colony, Daughter of Molokai gives a glimpse into the injustices suffered by Japanese Americans in the Japanese internment camps during World War II on the west coast of the United States of California.
Very well written. I enjoyed the performance.

Wow

Read Molok'i first. This series touched my heart in so many ways. The resilience of the all of the people in this tale is just amazing and as beautiful as the the back drop of the state of Hawaii

Fan of Alan Brennart's Molokai

A fan of the author. Read Honolulu and Molakai when I was younger. This is Ruth's story from when she was in an orphanage, to her adoption, her life growing up with adopted Japanese parents, their move to America, love, how the war impacted the Japanese-Americans, reconnection with her birth mother, and lost of loved ones. This was alot to stake in and cover but I enjoyed listening to the story.

a good sequel

I would have given 5 stars if not for the final 2 chapters. too much syrup. excellent Hawaiian native culture references.

Absolutely perfect

I will treasure this book forever. An incredible follow-up to the first book Molokai. I was so happy to get to follow more of Rachel's life and family through Ruth. It also opened my eyes to a dark part of history regarding the Japanese internment camps. I have developed a new respect for the Hawaiian and Japanese cultures and what it means to be family. I thought the performance for the audible version was excellent. I highly recommend this series of books.

beautiful story

this is an excellent book. loved all the history of Hawaiians and Japanese. Great follow up to Molokai

Heart warming story!

This beautiful story completes the saga of Rachel and her daughter Ruth. An emotional read requiring a box of Kleenex handy as you experience the emotions between mother and daughter!

Great story

Loved the story of mother and daughter continuing from the first book. Love hearing the history

Read Moloka'i then Daughter of Moloka'i

As I hoped, I loved this book! Daughter of Moloka'i, published February 2019, is a continuation of Alan Brennert's wonderful book, Moloka'i, which was published in late 2004. I purchased "Book #1" in an airport in 2005 because I am a regular visitor to the island of Maui, Hawaii, and I liked the cover of the book! (Yay, Art Department!) That was such a wonderful story that I actually sent a handwritten letter to the author to tell him how I felt about the main character, Rachel Kalama, and that I thought he should sell it as a miniseries! He wrote back to me, thanking me for taking the time to write. (Today he actually replies to Facebook comments about the new book!) I have recommended that first book to countless people who have all been swept away by the story.
Fast forward to 2018 when I read that Brennert was finishing a follow up book focused on the life of Rachel's daughter, Ruth. Rachel was required to give her "Hapa" (mixed/half) Hawaiian & Japanese daughter up for adoption just hours after she was born, knowing that Ruth would live a life of freedom, unlike Rachel, who was sent to live at Moloka'i's Leper Colony when she was a little girl. Ruth, however, was living in CA just after Pearl Harbor was bombed, and people of Japanese descent were relocated to internment camps for sometime afterward, her freedom also temporarily gone.
Daughter of Moloka'i has a full cast of rich characters that you can become emotionally invested in. It is also a joy to become reacquainted with characters from the original book again, not limited to Ruth's mother Rachel.
I listened to this book via Audible (14 hours 20 minutes) narrated so wonderfully by Tamlyn Tomita, who I recognize from the TV show "The Good Doctor." Both books are rich, historical fiction, and I learned a lot from each one. The information about the Tanforan "Assembly Center" in Daughter of Moloka'i was especially interesting because I live minutes away from the location, which is now home to a shopping mall. I would definitely recommend reading book 1 then book 2, but if you like quality fiction, you will be pleased with these.
I will never forget these characters and their stories. Mahalo, Alan Brennert, for bringing Rachel Kalama back to us to finish both her story and Ruth's.

This review will also be posted on my Goodreads review page.

Book club must!!

This is an incredible book covering such a wide part of history that it would make an excellent book club book. This is second half of an incredibly sad period of history the time of leprosy. This book picks up at the end of the other book telling us the story of Ruth the daughter born to Rachel. Truly an excellent story. The narrator on this was amazing. Can’t wait to share it with my own book clue. Be prepared to go on a roller coaster ride of emotions. Just so much to talk about. No spoilers. 😀