Honolulu by Alan Brennert

BookTalk

This journey begins with a young woman named Regret. Born in Korea around the turn of the century to a culture that had little value in their girls beyond their ability to eventually marry and produce sons. Regret yearns for another life, one filled with freedom, education, and value. She longs to feel pride for her life. In 1914 Regret begins her journey toward this end as a picture bride heading to Hawaii. But this is just the beginning for Regret. It soon becomes apparent that the man she agreed to marry sight-unseen is not her happy ending. She’ll travel from cane fields, to Hawaii’s red-light district, to owning her own business. Regret will find her worth, she’ll find love, and happiness…You’ll watch as she and her fellow picture brides navigate the world of Hawaii’s Golden Days and make more of their lives than anyone in Korea would expect a group of girls to do.

Review

I can’t help it. I didn’t love this book as much as I liked my first foray with Brennert in Moloka’i. In Honolulu we follow Regret who later changes her name to Jin (empowering choice if I don’t say so myself). One of the most affecting parts of the novel is the beginning of the story where the reader spends some time in Korea. You watch as Jin learns to read from one of the last Korean Geishas. As a first breakthrough in the book this is pretty out there. Brennert makes it all work in a serendipitous fashion but for me it was just the beginning of a tale that didn’t quite touch my heart.

I never felt like I connected to Jin. She does spend parts of the novel narrating about how Koreans as a people are very controlled with their emotions. She looks for cues in eye-shifts and muscles tensing and loosening in others to read their emotions. While the whole thing seemed very valid to the culture of a Korean woman of the time. We’re also talking about a woman who learned to read from a well-trained and paid mistress. I think had Brennert gone out on a limb and allowed more real emotion to show in his character’s words and actions I would have connected to them more. As it was I felt a little adrift among the people of the book. I wanted to like them, to feel their pain and joy…but I just couldn’t. It’s what kept this title from hitting home for me.

Brennert is meticulous in his ability to show the history of a time and place. Hawaii shines for him. The lives his characters lead are full and interesting. I just didn’t care for them the way I thought I was going to. If you’re looking to try a historical fiction book centered on Hawaii, this is a good choice, one many readers loved…but I’d steer you in the direction of Moloka’i instead.

Rating 5/10

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