I really appreciate historical fiction that gains me new insight into events that I'd not understood fully or not thought through. This was a book club pick that I'd been interested to read. I tend to love anything about historical Hawaii as long as it's not too dry. This is an Island I knew very little about with a complicated history that I'm happy to understand more about. It was a good read spanning the history of leprosy coming to Hawaii until a cure was found.

I thought this book had great characters. The book goes by sections that chronicles part of the main character's life - but it was not predictable and formulaic.

I liked learning about the history of Hawaii, and had not known anything about disease and Hawaii.
It was interesting to read about when Hawaii was not a U.S. state yet, and then the changes that came over the years. The legends of Hawaii and the descriptions of the land and water lightened the book a little - and added a good balance to the book.

The main character is charming, smart, and had interesting observations - which made me identify with her and really like her.

All in all - a really good historical fiction book. I will most likely read this again one day.

It's been a while since I've found a book this absorbing. Shockingly informative, the author surfaces a hideous period that too few of us are aware of. The writing is lovely, spare and unsentimental. Informative, engaging, and poignant. A very worthwhile read...

Book Club pick

The quarantine of lepers in Hawaii, fascinating history. I've read other accounts where the colony was really more like the Wild West so this felt like white-washed history, but it's set after the colony is established so maybe it was actually a bit better by that time.

Unimaginable that this history is not that long ago and we just really had nothing to help these poor people.

A nice historical fiction read. Told a little bit of statehood, cultural and medical history. Nice character development and pleasurable descriptions. I have been picky lately about flow of language and this flowed nicely. Only minor issue were a few what I now call "pc" storylines. Kind of like life everyone has to know a gay person, a person with breast cancer, etc....Just because you read the timeline of an era does not mean that every story has to include it...not everyone watched as JFK was shot. This is just a little pet peeve today. You will know which character I am referring.

At times, it was difficult to read the novel when Rachel talked about the sores and the changes happening to the bodies of people with leper symptoms but at the same time, I couldn't resist turning the page to read about Rachel's life. I loved how in the most terrible times of her life, she was able to find the goodness, the love and the hope she so deserved. This was art imitating life and no matter what struggles or affliction one faces, everyone has felt the same feelings even for different reasons. Wonderful book. One I definitely won't forget.

Heart wrenching, inspiring, beautiful, absolutely unforgettable! I first read this book a lifetime ago as an undergrad in one of my Literature classes. It broke my heart then and it broke my heart all over again this second time around.
Molokai is the story of men, women, and children torn from their families and banished to Molokai and the young priest who has dedicated his life to serving them. Afflicted with leprosy, they are doomed to live out the rest of their lives on Molokai with little else except for what is dumped off periodically just in front of the highest sea cliffs and what they can gather, grow, raise, or catch themselves.
Their story will leave you in tears. Their daily struggles and fears, small victories, losses and loves, their very existence reaffirms the tenacity of the human spirit. It bolsters our hope that even in the darkest and ugliest of times and circumstances, even among the most wretched of souls, courage, love, and human decency not only survives but flourishes.

***If you're interested in this book make sure you pick up the right one, Molokai by O.A. Bushnell as another author published a book after Bushnell's death titled Molokai covering the same subject as well. Not very original I say!***

One of my absolute favorites ever!!

How poorly people have been treated in the past.

Another difficult subject to read about... but once again, a slice of history i was totally unaware of. In the end, a story about the triumph of the human spirit over profound adversity.

I thought it was a great book - just remember to have a box of tissues close by.

The book is divided into three parts where each part follows a different character. I like that the writing style changed for each part to represent each character. It was a good story with a look at the personal struggles and moral issues involved around the leprosy in Hawaii.