This book is soul-crushing and uplifting at the same time. Everything I wanted it to be and more. I highly recommend.

In House of Many Gods, Davenport brings together the disparate cultures of Hawaii and Russia in this novel of cultural history, personal longing, political activism and government control. The most obvious connection Davenport makes in the book between the two places are the military bombing of the Hawaiian islands, specifically Makua Valley, and the Soviet nuclear fallout and testing on her own people and land. This book filled me with a strong sense of melancholy every time I picked it up, so I took it in tiny doses over a period of months. But I enjoyed it enough to forge ahead. ;0)

I read this right after finishing "The Song of the Exile," which I read to continue my focus on Pacific Islander authors during Asian Pacific Islander American Heritage Month (May) as well as my push to read more Native and Latinx authors this year. And I generally liked that one and "Shark Dialogues" better than this one. (The three books are somewhat interlinked, especially Exile and House. Pono from Shark appears in Exile.)

Her writing has a sweeping quality that drew me into the story and worlds. I particularly like how she incorporates Hawaiian cultural ideas and practices into the book. And in this book, she explains, in story, the situation of Native Hawaiians who live on the Wai'anae coast and generally about US military action in the islands.

I did think the Russian piece seemed contrived. (Furthermore, the written dialog of Russian characters sounded like Natasha from "Rocky and Bullwinkle.")

A few quotes:

"Reflecting on the long, exhausted hours of that day--the birthing, and praying, the taking and sharing of pain, and love--in that moment Ana saw how rich they were, how thick their blood coursing the generations. It was a family that did not keep up with time, but rather allowed time to pause, stand still, and catch its breath. A family conjoined and condemned to each other for now, for good, forever. In those moments she understood that these people, and this house, would always be her solace. Her language. And her place. Though she would try to overcome it."

"Ana thought how she had taken it for granted, the light and the rhythms and the motion. The scents and colors, and proportions. The way shadows made plain things interesting, the way space met in empty corners, creating a place for the eyes to rest. She wanted to dwell on these things again. To slow down and understand their 'thingness.' She understood this would take time; there would be periods of backtracking."

"No high-rise buildings, she often forgot how on the coast the sky was everywhere, sunlight so blinding that folks could not think. They just lived stunned. She saw children leaping in the sea that paralleled the highway, their skin so coppery and shimmering they seemed to be covered with mirrors. She felt herself unwind, reentering a world that required no effort of her. Yet it required everything."

Kiana Davenport's book House of Many Gods is a wonderful generational novel, beginning in the mid-Sixties and running to present day, along the Waianae coast of Oahu, a neighborhood largely unknown to the outside world. It houses the third-largest homeless population in the United States, made up of mostly ghettoized native Hawaiians. In this novel, set in a house shared by many and various mothers, their children and the occasional father, a story about a young girl takes place. Abandoned by her mother, she struggles within a culture clash within the only home she's ever known, her expectations, the outside world, and how to love. During the book she finds a way through much of the tragedy and poverty around her to become a doctor, eventually connect the pieces of her life, and travels halfway around the world to rescue a man, also struggling in his native culture, that she'd refused to love. At least as important as the story she tells, Kiana's descriptions and narrative, as lush and rich as a tropical rainforest, brings along the deep abiding spiritualism of a Hawaiian spirit subjugated by a profusion of foreign influences, from the missionaries to the more recent intrusions of Asian, and most of all, the United States, influences. It's as if Kaui Hart Hemmings (The Descendants) meets Gregory David Roberts (Shantaram) in Hawaii. I rank Kiana Davenport alongside my favorite authors, Hemmings, Donna Tart, Marisa Pessl, and Dennis Lehane. This will be a read you cannot put down and will never forget.

Perhaps my favorite book I’ve read all year

This was a beautifully written book, and I loved the scenery from both the islands and Russia, but the book as a whole didn't really come together for me. I wasn't feeling the passion between the two main characters that led to the dramatic ending. I think that was actually the author's intention, since these characters were pretty messed up and incapable of normal emotion due to their unusual upbringings, but it just didn't gel for me, especially with Ana. I look forward to reading more by this author, though.

See original review here: https://gamingforjustice.com/2016/11/...

House of Many Gods by Kiana Davenport was the n  onlyn book by a Native Hawaiian author I found at my local library. My library did carry a selection of the “top books about or set in Hawaii,” but unfortunately those books are written by White authors or non-Native Hawaiian authors born or living in Hawaii. Kiana Davenport is biracial, Native Hawaiian and White. Her father came to the islands when he was stationed at Pearl Harbor and met Kiana’s mother. As a biracial reader and writer, I look forward to reading biracial and multiracial authors and how their characters may have to navigate two different cultures or how they are perceived in different communities. In addition, this month I aim to feature Native Hawaiian authors and their works in an efforts for more visibility.

Kiana Davenport is able to weave many themes within House of Many Gods. While the book is described as a love story, I honestly did not think or experience it as a romantic love story the way I would expect to… And that was fantastic for me as a reader. The story starts out following Ana, abandoned by her mother Anahola and raised by extended family on the Wai’anae coast, which is west of Honolulu. Ana is a particularly driven and intelligent person and goes to school to ultimately become a physician. While working on the island of Kaua’i, Ana meets Nikolai, a Russian documentary filmmaker who travels the world filming issues of environmental justice. A love story begins between two very stubborn and headstrong people from vastly different cultures. The book focuses almost exclusively on Ana’s life, from a young child all the way through adulthood.

After finishing the novel, I thought the main themes were family, health and ability, and environmental justice, more so than romance. The first comes out immediately as we start reading in the first few chapters, learning about Ana’s family and a little about Anahola in living in California. The narrative of family is powerful because the absence of Anahola is formative in Ana’s identity throughout the story. It impacts how she relates to her extended family, her friends, and her romantic partners. Health and ability tied in directly to Ana’s choice in study and profession – entering the medical field and eventually starting a residency to become a doctor. However, there is a twist when Ana has medical complications when she is a resident in the emergency room. Her struggle through her medical issues were also powerful and tied directly to the themes of family and friends. Both of these themes I would love to talk about more, but I feel like I would be spoiling the book for all of you. I will let you discover this for yourselves.

Environmental justice was a huge backdrop for the story. We are first introduced to the struggle of Native Hawaiian communities against the government when Lopaka, Ana’s favorite cousin and a veteran, starts talking about the bomb and missile tests happening in the valley near the Wai’anae coast. Lopaka organizes protests against these military facilities and when Nikolai comes to Hawaii, Lopaka brings him into the fold as someone who could document the atrocities on the Wai’anae coast. I appreciate the subtle and direct messages about modern day colonialism of sacred Native Hawaiian land in the name of security and defense by the United States government. Remembering that Hawaii was a strategic military base and port, it is not surprising about the further taking of land from Native Peoples to test bombs and missiles.

When Nikolai was first introduced and made his way to Hawaii, I was afraid his story line would be a White Savior narrative. Either his part in the struggle for environmental justice or the love story between him and Ana would result in a perfectly happy ending. And the credit would go to Nikolai. I was pleasantly surprised that Nikolai, even with his own chapters to described his history in Russia, remained a minor character and did not sweep in at the end to save the day. In fact, he respected Ana and simply listened to what she wanted… and left Hawaii. Without going into too many spoilers for this book, I found their relationship at the end of the book to be less about saving one person or another but saving each other from all of the painful experiences of their individual lives. This allowed separation from the White Savior narrative and turned it into one of common understanding and common goals.

The culture infused in this novel is absolutely astounding. First of all, the book is filled with many Hawaiian words (which are italicized in this case and I believe there was a glossary in the back to help non-Native Hawaiian speaking people) to better describe situations, traditions, food, feelings, and beliefs better than any English word could. I am not a big proponent in italicizing non-English words, but I do not mind if an #OwnVoices author chooses to for their own reasons. The glossary is helpful; however, I enjoyed feeling the words in the context of the passage. I may not know what the words mean exactly, but the words immersed me in the story. The number of traditions included also added to the experience. From coming of age traditions to pregnancy traditions, the authentic #OwnVoices writing by Kian Davenport made House of Many Gods unapologetically Hawaiian, away from the paradise and resort narrative.

Overall, I really enjoyed House of Many Gods by Kiana Davenport. This is one of those books where I felt like I knew Ana from a child all the way to and through adulthood. The writing in the book has a way at progressing the characters little by little so when I stopped to finally reflect, I realized how much these characters actually changed. It was similar to watching a TV show over ten seasons and looking back at the characters in season one and being awestruck at the development and change in them. Brilliant writing, seriously, to be able to achieve this feeling. If you can find a copy, I would recommend you pick it up!

Final Rating 4.3/5

read

What I liked:
*descriptions of Hawaii, its landscape, people and culture
*learning about how the U.S.government used the Hawaiian Islands as bomb testing grounds, which destroyed the environment and imperiled residents' health
*experiencing a different economic class than is usually portrayed in novels about Hawaii
*the idea of the plot (two people who have been bruised and battered by their circumstances find an unlikely love)
*the cover

What I disliked:
*few of the characters were believable
*I found much of the writing overblown and unrealistic
*I thought Davenport was much better when she wrote about Hawaii than when she wrote about Russia, i.e., Hawaii as a people and setting was lush and nuanced; Russia was stereotypically bleak
*the plot in specific (much of the action was hard to believe, and felt contrived

Other reviewers seemed to love this book more than I could.

Kiana Davenport is a find! If you love reading and love books which teach something new, do not pass this up.

I doubt you find House of Many Gods on lists recommended for feel good book clubs; it is far too real and raw for the I want to hear something positive crowd. I am not aware that Oprah has recommended it and I doubt she will.

There is a family story, a romance, a young determined woman from disadvantaged background overcomes obstacles and does well story as well as the searing story of a lost boy from Russia, all told against the background of extreme environmental degradation caused by militaristic capitalism in the South Pacific and militarized socialism in Russia. Davenport's bill of particulars excuses no one.

I found the book on a library discard table and I am not at all surprised the library elected to not keep it.

If you enjoyed Shark Dialogues, I also recommend this novel by Kiana Davenport. House of Many Gods tells the story of a Hawaiian family on the impoverished Waianae Coast on Oahu from the 1960's to current day.

There’s also a short section set in Kauai that includes a helicopter ride over the island and is worth reading if you are planning to do that.

Aloha!
www.DonnaSalernoTravel.com

I read this when it was first published, the third of Davenport's novels set in Hawaii. This story extends from Nanakuli, on the island of Oahu, to Archangel'sk, in Russia. Usually I devour good stories, but this one floored me. I would read a little and begin crying, pretty soon sobbing, and I couldn't read the words, so I would have to put it down and come back later to the story. And the story, oh my, love, loss and redemption in abundance. I couldn't pick up another book for days after finishing this book.....that's how thoroughly it haunted me. Read it! Kiana Davenport, thank you and please write more!