Based on a true story, this book gives the reader a stunning and memorable look at life in 1920’s Hawaii while telling the story of one very strong young woman.
Julia is a spoiled city girl. Through actions of her own, she ends up living on a ranch in the primitive harshness of Moloka’i. Julia had been looking for love and commitment in all the wrong places. She became pregnant twice, each time by a different man. Each time, she thought she had found the man of her dreams, but alas, she was wrong.
Then she meets Chip. Convinced that this time, she has found the man of her dreams, she leaves with him and goes to a ranch in Moloka’i, leaving her two sons with her mother. The harshness of life there stuns her. Will she be able to let go of her big-city ways to adjust to life here?
Having two children while not being married, especially during the 1920s, is something that she doesn’t want anyone to find out. She’s afraid that she will be looked down upon and thought irresponsible. She loves Chip and wants to spend the rest of her life with him. If only Chip would hurry and ask her for her hand in marriage.
Chip has his own issues though, and I wonder if marrying him would be he right thing for Julia.
When I first met Julia in the book, I thought she was a silly spoiled girl, one who was so hungry for a man she neglected to be careful. But life in Moloka’i matures and fashions her into a strong young woman. Does she now have the strength to handle Chip’s reaction to the huge decision she just made without consulting him first? I look forward to reading more of her story.
I was sent a copy of this book to read in exchange for an honest review. If you would like to purchase this hard-to-put-down book for your own reading pleasure, I’ve placed an Amazon link for it below.
Amazon Links:
Recommended Link: The Queen of Moloka’i Book Signing
Favorite Lines:
Her romantic fantasies had been gleaned from the pages of fairy tales, where heroines were placed on pedestals and knew the undying love of a gallant man.
To Julia he seemed a modern incarnation of Adam in the Garden of Eden, a cowpoke roaming the plains that few men had crossed.
Strips of scrub clung to life above a high tide line marked by driftwood, seaweed, and dead barnacles.
She feared her sons considered her nothing more than a holiday aunt, a relative who kept her distance while they were learning how to grow up without a mother.
“Always remember, you are the mistress of your own destiny.”
New Words Learned:
Hawaiian words abound in this book. If the author hadn’t had the foresight to place a dictionary for them in the back of the book, my “New Words Learned” list would be much longer.
Black Bottom – a dance which became popular in the late 1920s
Bunny Hug – a dancing style performed by young people in the early 20th century. It is thought to have originated in San Francisco, California in the Barbary Coast dance halls along with the Texas Tommy, turkey trot, and grizzly bear. (Wikipedia)
https://www.history.com/news/banned-animal-dance-turkey-trot-woodrow-wilson
chaulmoogra oil – a brownish-yellow oil or soft fat expressed from the seeds of a chaulmoogra tree, used formerly in the treatment of leprosy and skin diseases
granadilla – a passion fruit, or the fruit of a related plant
haupia cake – Haupia cake or Hawaiian pudding cake is a traditional Hawaiian coconut pudding cake that is made with coconut milk. The pudding is usually made firm enough, so that after it has set, it can be cut into small squares and eaten with your hands.
https://whatscookingamerica.net/Cake/HaupiaCake.htm
lantana – any of numerous chiefly tropical plants belonging to the genus Lantana, of the verbena family, certain species of which, as L. camara, are cultivated for their aromatic flowers of yellow and orange or blue and violet.
sword fern – a fern with long, slender fronds
About the Author:
Kirby Michael Wright was born and raised in Hawaii. He is from a kama’aina family with roots in Honolulu and Kaunakakai. He has traced his Hawaiian blood back to Kulia Naoho: his great-great-grandma was born and raised in the Maui town of Waihee. Wright has penned a family saga with The Queen of Moloka’i, a new work of creative nonfiction based on the life and times of Julia Wright, his hapa haole grandma. Wright has also written the companion books Punahou Blues and Molokai Nui Ahina, both set in Hawaii. He received the 2018 Redwood Empire Mensa Award for Creative Nonfiction. His stories and stand-alone chapters have appeared in over two hundred literary journals and magazines worldwide.
Film Potential: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yVNV_3mgzGw
If you come to my book signing in Vista and mention Lisa’s review, I will gift you a copy of MOLOKA’I NUI AHINA, which fast forwards half-a-century and we see Julia Wright as a grandmother at Hale Kawaikapu.
Mahalo!
How interesting, from 21 to 60 in a flash.
I will come to your signing since I live fairly close by.
Great review Lisa!