Honolulu (Alan Brennert)

Why I have this book: I bought it several years ago on the recommendation of a friend and it has sat there all these years. This is actually a "real" book. My book club decided to read it this month, which worked out great for me!

I loved this book. First of all, I had no idea that the protagonist was Korean. I have a special connection to Korea, so that was a bonus for me. I love learning more about their culture and history.

Second, the author is a man, but wrote the book through the eyes of a woman. The book has the same kind of view point as The Help... it's a story about women. There are men in the book, but they play a secondary role. I find it fascinating and impressive that I really never heard anything other than a female voice as I read the book. I even double checked the cover once to make sure I remembered correctly that a man wrote the book.

Third, the fictional story intertwined with real life people and real life events. After a while, I found myself checking online to see if this character was real or that event was real. It was amazing how smoothly the real events and people of Hawaii came into this story.

This isn't a complete history of Hawaii. It covers the early 1900's, for the most part. Just a brief time in their history, but eye-opening as to what most tourists don't even think about as they visit those beautiful islands. There is a very rich history, and it explains why the "locals" might have some strong feelings about their home. I wish I had read this before I went. I will see things a little differently if I get to go again. (I hope so! It's such a alluring place... at least when you're visiting.)

There is some nasty language from one character, who also happens to be a prostitute. I could have done without quite so much "colorful" dialect, but it's a relatively short part of the story.

This book is a keeper for me.

This book contains some bad language, including one or two instances of the "f" word. The Lord's name is also used quite often as a swear word (nearly all of this is from one character.) Outside of that character, swearing is rare. There is also some content involving marital relations, rape and attempted rape, abuse, and prostitution. None of it is glorified (although you might find the prostitute to be a likeable character), and none is really graphic.