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House of Many Gods

kiana davenport

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From Kiana Davenport, the bestselling author of Song of the Exile and Shark Dialogues, comes another mesmerizing novel about her people and her islands. Told in spellbinding and mythic prose, House of Many Gods is a deeply complex and provocative love story set against the background of Hawaii and Russia. Interwoven throughout with the indelible portrait of a native Hawaiian family struggling against poverty, drug wars, and the increasing military occupation of their sacred lands.

Progressing from the 1960s to the turbulent present, the novel begins on the island of O’ahu and centers on Ana, abandoned by her mother as a child. Raised by her extended family on the “lawless” Wai’anae coast, west of Honolulu, Ana, against all odds, becomes a physician. While tending victims of Hurricane ‘Iniki on the neighboring island of Kaua’i, she meets Nikolai, a Russian filmmaker with a violent and tragic past, who can confront reality only through his unique prism of lies. Yet he is dedicated to recording the ecological horrors in his motherland and across the Pacific.

As their lives slowly and inextricably intertwine, Ana and Nikolai’s story becomes an odyssey that spans decades and sweeps the reader from rural Hawaii to the forbidding Arctic wastes of Russia; from the poverty-stricken Wai’anae coast to the glittering harshness of “new Moscow” and the haunting, faded beauty of St. Petersburg. With stunning narrative inventiveness, Davenport has created a timeless epic of loss and remembrance, of the search for family and identity, and, ultimately, of the redemptive power of love.

352 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1,2006
Places
hawaii, 

This edition

Format
352 pages, Hardcover
Published
January 3, 2006 by Ballantine Books
ISBN
9780345481504
ASIN
034548150X
Language
English

More editions

About the author

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kiana davenport

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KIANA DAVENPORT is descended from a full-blooded Native Hawaiian mother, and a Caucasian father from Talladega, Alabama. Her father, Braxton Bragg Davenport, was a sailor in the U.S. Navy, stationed at Pearl Harbor, when he fell in love with her mother, Emma Kealoha Awaawa Kanoho Houghtailing. On her mother's side, Kiana traces her ancestry back to the first Polynesian settlers to the Hawaiian Islands who arrived almost two thousand years ago from Tahiti and the Tuamotu's. On her father's side, she traces her ancestry to John Davenport, the puritan clergyman who co-founded the American colony of New Haven, Connecticut in 1638.

Kiana is the author of the internationally best-selling novels, SHARK DIALOGUES, SONG OF THE EXILE, HOUSE OF MANY GODS, THE SPY LOVER, and most recently, THE SOUL AJAR, now available in paperback and on Kindle

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Community Reviews

Rating(4 / 5.0, 100 votes)
5 stars
33(33%)
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34(34%)
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100 reviews All reviews
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DickwaD9000
★ ★ ★ ★ ★
April 17,2025
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As with some of this Author's previous work, I had to remind myself that it was fiction. I found myself weeping at the the storyline which (I found) beautifully written. And really had to strain my credibily thru some of chapters. EX; 1. Nikolai's birth circumstances. 2. His adult scarring explained as the marks of wolves gnawing at him, while in a semi-frozen state. 3. Ana's baby arrives 2 Mths early, but presents at a very healthy 8+ pounds.

All in all a very riviting read... Well done & I will be on the watch for another of this Author's work.
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wizard062
★ ★ ★ ★ ★
April 17,2025
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I read this for a book club. I didn't like it and I probably wouldn't have finished it otherwise. It's sad, but sad for the sake of being sad, with very little resolution. The characters aren't well developed, the plot is contrived. I found myself not caring about their sadness or what outcome they might have. Huge time gaps interrupt the flow of the story.
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amcsi
★ ★ ★ ★ ★
April 17,2025
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⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

I loved, loved, loved this book. Two seemingly disparate cultures, are on display in this book. The story of Ana, a native Hawaiian, who grows up on the Wai’ane Coast on the island of O’ahu and the story of Nikolai Volenko, born on the sub-arctic tundra of Northern Russia. What they have in common is the environmental abuse they witness rained down on them by their respective countries/government. This was a thoroughly engrossing love story and I’m so glad I found it! Highly recommended.
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echiraodareal
★ ★ ★ ★ ★
April 17,2025
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Such a hard one to review. Some of this book was absolutely brilliant and incredibly moving (the generations of women supporting Rosie’s childbirth, max’s final helicopter ride), but so much of this book was so frustrating. The pacing was a mess, and I couldn’t understand why certain parts of the book were glossed other and others given so much time. In the end, this book had simply far Too Much Going On. If it had focused on the dual stories of Ana and Anahola’s lives and the family around them, it could’ve been wonderful!
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Merkuriy
★ ★ ★ ★ ★
April 17,2025
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A book set in Hawaii about family and what's important. It was kind of a sad book, but very interesting about the culture in Hawaii.
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Foxtrot_67
★ ★ ★ ★ ★
April 17,2025
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As a transplant to Hawaii, I am always interested in learning more about the Hawaiian people and their culture. This story takes place on the Waianae coast of Oahu, a largely poor Hawaiian area. It is a story that weaves together themes of Ohana (family), especially mothers and daughters, the politics of marginalization of cultures, the detrimental effects of military bombing and toxic waste and a love story! The lead male character is from Russia, and the book describes the harsh conditions most Russians have and continue to endure. Difficult to read at times, yet still interesting, informative and full of relationship and character development.
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Allyrian
★ ★ ★ ★ ★
April 17,2025
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Quite possibly the most beautifully written book I've ever read.
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Rhysc24
★ ★ ★ ★ ★
April 17,2025
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Love the Oahu setting and references to places I knows and the depictions of Hawaiian culture, history and legends. I knew about the bomb testing done in Micronesia and the Hawaii island of kaho’olawe but didn’t realize how much bombing was done on Oahu or the environmental impact and protests in the sixties.
While I appreciate the parallel’s drawn to Russia, overall that story line didn’t resonate with me and the Russian character Nikolai seemed overly dramatic and stereotypical.
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