Read this last year for book club and thought it was a wonderfully compelling story about the lepers of Hawaii. I learned a lot I hadn't known.

Loved this book. I cried almost through the whole book. And the author piqued my interest in learning more about Fr. Damien, leprosy and Molokai. I then had to read his other book, Hawaii. Which, by the way was also a good quick read but I cried far less.

great historical fiction. well researched and well told. I thoroughly enjoyed the whole journey. not for young readers.

Interesting perspective on what it meant to grow up on Molo'kai as a leper.

If you read this make sure you don't get the newest book, also titled Molokai.

I enjoyed this a lot and will try to put my thoughts succinctly. The author, Bushnell, grew up on Hawaii and definitely knows the culture. You could feel the authenticity of the people.

There are three parts with three points of view. The first is from a dr. From Europe who attempts to give someone leprosy to hopefully learn the cause, thus finding a cure. The second from a young woman who contracted leprosy and was sent to the leper colony on molokai, and the last from a young man also sent to the leper colony. I didn't enjoy the girls point of view as much. I just don't think he wrote her as well.

There are a couple paragraphs that you might skip over that have a sexual theme. At one point it shows the depravity of one's mind, but it's easy to get the gist, skip if you want and move on. and another part shows the barrier of one with leprosy and one without. The characters are far from perfect and you follow their journeys. People from different backgrounds all brought together and bound together through the horrific disease of leprosy.

Father Damien is based off of a real priest, Father Damien, who went to live among and minster to the lepers.

This book gave a lot to think about and i learned a lot about that time period (late 1800s) in Hawaii.

Simply captivating and heart wrenching. Expect lots of tears.

loved

I read this book for book club. I probably would not have picked it up, but I am so glad I did. It is fiction, but based on well-researched facts. Starting in the late 1890's, it is the story of a fictional little girl who lives in Hawaii.
Spoilers ahead...
She begins to show symptoms of leprosy and is wrenched from her family and at the age of 8, sent to live on the Hawaiian island of Molokai. A leper colony had been established there. Because of Hawaii's geographical isolation, they did not have immunities to many western diseases. Think Native Americans and European explorers). Leprosy became a large problem in Hawaii.

The book traces the life of this little girl, impacts on her family, how other people sent to Molokai dealt with their separations. It's also a story of the society that formed from this growing village of men, women and children, all removed from their families and having to create new families. Or not. So - a human story admidst a challenging historical backdrop. Loved the writing too!

What a well written historical novel about a part of Hawaiian history that was new to me. Early in the book I wondered why I was reading such a tough story, but in at the end, realized I did not want Rachel's story to end. She felt like a friend I didn't want to let go. The author brings in important historical events in a way that educates, yet they enhance the story.

I read almost half of this and I really enjoyed the world it was set in. The voice feels outdated, and I would have liked to see what the book really said in the end, but honestly it was on loan from another library and I had to return it

If you are interested in Hawaii beyond the beachside glitz, I recommend you read one of O.A. Bushnell's historical novels. I have just finished Molokai, which tells of three people on the same ship to the leper colony at Kalawao and Kalaupapa: two of them (Malie and Caleb) because they showed signs of leprosy, Dr Newman because he was investigating the disease for the Hawaii Board of Health. Cutting through the three chapters named by the characters mentioned above are Father Damien de Veuster (now Saint Damian), the Catholic chaplain, and Keanu, a condemned prisoner who offers to go to Molokai as a research subject rather than be hanged for a murder he committed.

Book was very informative but movie sucked