Lots of Knots
  • Home
  • Knots KNews
  • Handmade Blankets
  • Crochet Borders
  • Book Club Blog
  • Mission Statement
  • Contact Us

September Book Selection - Susan and Martha's recommendation

8/23/2012

0 Comments

 
Picture
From Publishers Weekly

Compellingly original in its conceit, Brennert's sweeping debut novel tracks the grim struggle of a Hawaiian woman who contracts leprosy as a child in Honolulu during the 1890s and is deported to the island of Moloka'i, where she grows to adulthood at the quarantined settlement of Kalaupapa. Rachel Kalama is the plucky, seven-year-old heroine whose family is devastated when first her uncle Pono and then she develop leprous sores and are quarantined with the disease. While Rachel's symptoms remain mild during her youth, she watches others her age dying from the disease in near total isolation from family and friends. Rachel finds happiness when she meets Kenji Utagawa, a fellow leprosy victim whose illness brings shame on his Japanese family. After a tender courtship, Rachel and Kenji marry and have a daughter, but the birth of their healthy baby brings as much grief as joy, when they must give her up for adoption to prevent infection. The couple cope with the loss of their daughter and settle into a productive working life until Kenji tries to stop a quarantined U.S. soldier from beating up his girlfriend and is tragically killed in the subsequent fight. The poignant concluding chapters portray Rachel's final years after sulfa drugs are discovered as a cure, leaving her free to abandon Moloka'i and seek out her family and daughter. Brennert's compassion makes Rachel a memorable character, and his smooth storytelling vividly brings early 20th-century Hawaii to life. Leprosy may seem a macabre subject, but Brennert transforms the material into a touching, lovely account of a woman's journey as she rises above the limitations of a devastating illness.                Review “A dazzling historical novel.”--The Washington Post
                                                                                                                                      “Moloka’iis a haunting story of tragedy in a Pacific paradise.”--Robert Morgan, author of Gap Creek“Alan Brennert draws on historical accounts of Kalaupapa and weaves in traditional Hawaiian stories and customs.... Moloka’iis the story of people who had much taken from them but also gained an unexpected new family and community in the process.”--Chicago Tribune


Author information and website:

http://www.amazon.com/Alan-Brennert/e/B001JSHE4W/ref=ntt_dp_epwbk_0


0 Comments

Notes from August Book Club

8/17/2012

0 Comments

 
There are no notes :)  No one read the book, and we spent all of our time talking about various trips and activities during the summer.


I think we will probably decide that an August book is not necessary.  We all have a lot to catch up on by the time we get together in August.
0 Comments

    Author

    I like to think that I can't be described in a short paragraph.  Some adjectives:  curious, caring, kind, generous, excitable, motivated, emotional, fun, organized. What do you think?    Claire

    Archives

    January 2014
    November 2013
    October 2013
    February 2013
    November 2012
    September 2012
    August 2012
    June 2012
    May 2012
    April 2012
    March 2012
    January 2012
    December 2011
    November 2011
    October 2011
    September 2011
    August 2011
    July 2011
    June 2011
    May 2011
    April 2011
    February 2011
    January 2011
    December 2010
    November 2010
    October 2010
    September 2010
    August 2010
    June 2010
    May 2010
    April 2010
    March 2010
    February 2010
    January 2010
    December 2009
    November 2009
    October 2009

    Categories

    All
    A Secret Kept
    Carol Burnett
    Charles And Emma
    Cold Sassy Tree
    Cutting For Stone
    Fannie Flagg
    Girl In Translation
    Good To A Fault
    Handle With Care
    Hotel On The Corner Of Bitter And Sweet
    Major Pettigrews Last Stand
    Messenger
    My Name Is Mary Sutter
    Same Kind Of Different As Me
    Sarahs Key
    Saving Ceecee Honeycutt
    Shanghai Girls
    South Of Broad
    Standing In The Rainbow
    The Beach Trees
    The Birth Of Venus
    The Girls From Ames
    The Guernsey Literary And Potato Peel Society
    The Help
    The Other West Moore
    The Postmistress
    The Reading Promise
    The Sweetness At The Bottom Of The Pie
    The Undomestic Goddess
    Three Cups Of Tea

    RSS Feed

Powered by Create your own unique website with customizable templates.

  • Home
  • Knots KNews
  • Handmade Blankets
  • Crochet Borders
  • Book Club Blog
  • Mission Statement
  • Contact Us