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Great book, absorbing.
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Molokai
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Molokai--one of the beautiful Hawaiian islands, but in the late nineteenth century, a name synonymous with a desolate leper colony. Kalaupapa, accessible only from the sea, was "The Given Grave," where victims of the dreaded disease were sent to die, exiled in a desperate attempt to halt the spread of this horror newly come to the islands. For the stricken there was no return, no treatment, no cure but the blessed release of death, no hope--until the coming of Father Damien, who fought to bring a measure of human dignity to the suffering.
The story of the exiles in Molokai will tell you about Dr. Newman, the scientist who burned with ambition to cure the sick, but did not love them; Keanu, convicted murderer who had loved too well, and who, in a desperate gamble for life, offered himself for a dangerous and terrible medical experiment; Maile, who was afraid to love in the glittering court of King Kalakaua but found the courage to open her heart in the face of death; Caleb, who scoffed at love until the boy Eleu took him by the hand; and the priest who prayed to be made one with the lepers he served.
539 pages, Paperback
First published January 1,1960
This edition
- Format
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539 pages, Paperback
- Published
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January 1, 1999 by University of Hawaii Press
- ISBN
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9780824802875
- ASIN
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082480287X
- Language
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English
About the author
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O. A. (Oswald Andrew) "Ozzy" Bushnell (11 May 1913 - 21 August 2002) was a microbiologist, historian, novelist, and professor at the University of Hawaiʻi. Descended from contract laborers from Portugal and Norway and a mechanic from Italy, he was born in the working-class neighborhood of Kakaʻako. His friends and classmates in the area were Chinese, Japanese, Portuguese, Hawaiian, and "hapa-haole" [part-white], so he grew up "local," mastering Hawaiian "pidgin" as well as English as his novels attest. As a youngster he developed a love for the cultures of Hawai`i as well as literature and classical music. He graduated in 1934 from the University of Hawaii, where he served as student body president. By 1937 he had earned both his MS and PhD degrees in bacteriology from the University of Wisconsin and later worked and taught (1937–40) at George Washington University Medical School in Washington D.C. He returned to Hawai`i in 1940 working for the Department of Health on Kaua`i and Maui before joining the U.S Army after the attack on Pearl Harbor. Following the war he taught at the University of Hawaii at Mānoa, retiring in 1970 as emeritus professor of medical microbiology and medical history. He served as editor in chief of the journal Pacific Science from 1957 through 1967. Married to Elizabeth Jane Krauskopf in 1943, he had two sons, Andrew and Philip and a daughter, Mahealani.
Bushnell's first novel, The Return of Lono, won the Atlantic Monthly's fiction award in 1956, at a time when most books about Hawaiʻi were written by outsiders. Later novels dealt with other aspects of Hawaiʻi's history and he encouraged and inspired many other local writers to tell their own stories. Molokaʻi (1975) tells the story of leprosy patients quarantined at Kalaupapa; Kaʻaʻawa (1972) describes life on Oʻahu in the 1850s, during the great smallpox epidemic when many native Hawaiians were dying of newly introduced diseases; and Stone of Kannon (1979) and its sequel Water of Kane tell about the first Japanese contract laborers who arrived in 1868. In 1974, the Hawaiʻi Literary Arts Council presented him an Award for Literature, saying he "brought life to fact and reality to fiction."
His historical works include "Hawaii: A Pictorial History" (1969) with Joseph Feher and Edward Joesting, "A Walk Through Old Honolulu" (1975), and "A Song of Pilgrimage and Exile: The Life and Spirit of Mother Marianne of Molokai" (1980) with Sister Mary Laurence Hanley, O.S.F.
His last work, Gifts of Civilization: Germs and Genocide in Hawaii (1993), combined his interests in microbiology, Hawaiian history, and literature. It remains the definitive study of how Native Hawaiians, having lived in isolation for centuries, were very nearly wiped out by exposure to newly introduced diseases such as tuberculosis, smallpox, and leprosy.
Bushnell's first novel, The Return of Lono, won the Atlantic Monthly's fiction award in 1956, at a time when most books about Hawaiʻi were written by outsiders. Later novels dealt with other aspects of Hawaiʻi's history and he encouraged and inspired many other local writers to tell their own stories. Molokaʻi (1975) tells the story of leprosy patients quarantined at Kalaupapa; Kaʻaʻawa (1972) describes life on Oʻahu in the 1850s, during the great smallpox epidemic when many native Hawaiians were dying of newly introduced diseases; and Stone of Kannon (1979) and its sequel Water of Kane tell about the first Japanese contract laborers who arrived in 1868. In 1974, the Hawaiʻi Literary Arts Council presented him an Award for Literature, saying he "brought life to fact and reality to fiction."
His historical works include "Hawaii: A Pictorial History" (1969) with Joseph Feher and Edward Joesting, "A Walk Through Old Honolulu" (1975), and "A Song of Pilgrimage and Exile: The Life and Spirit of Mother Marianne of Molokai" (1980) with Sister Mary Laurence Hanley, O.S.F.
His last work, Gifts of Civilization: Germs and Genocide in Hawaii (1993), combined his interests in microbiology, Hawaiian history, and literature. It remains the definitive study of how Native Hawaiians, having lived in isolation for centuries, were very nearly wiped out by exposure to newly introduced diseases such as tuberculosis, smallpox, and leprosy.
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Historical fiction about the Hawaiian island that became a leper colony a hundred years ago. i learned a lot about Hunter disease.The story centers around the life span of a 6 year old Hawaiian girl taken from her family when she contracts leprosy. Sad and absorbing read.
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Molokai is a heartbreaking story about the people contained on an island in Hawaii after being diagnosed with Leprosy.
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Great book for anyone going to Hawaii!
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Very interesting subject, and very beautifully written. It just seemed a bit long towards the end, and the characters were fairly unlikable overall. Glad I gave it a try. It sparked my curiosity about leper colonies, and I was inspired to research the topic and learn a bit more.
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Molokai is one of the Hawaiian Islands that was used as a leper colony. When people were sent there they never returned to society unless their symptoms were eradicated. This novel is a lovely, heart warming story of the people who lived there, and their deep loves and tremendous losses. I loved this book and felt as though I were living amidst the wonderful people.
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Loved it!!
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Interesting book about leprosy in Hawaii...found out things I never would have known, so sad! The author did want to cover EVERY point in history, so that got a little long and felt it could have been shorter, but super interesting nonetheless.
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