Thursday, January 24
7:30 p.m., Reception Room
Book: Moloka’i by Alan Brennert
“This richly imagined novel set in Hawaii more than a century ago, is an extraordinary epic of a little-known time and place–and a deeply moving testament to the resiliency of the human spirit. The main character, Rachel Kalama, a spirited seven-year-old Hawaiian girl, dreams of visiting far-off lands like her father, a merchant seaman. Then one day a rose-colored mark appears on her skin, and those dreams are stolen from her. Taken from her home and family, Rachel is sent to Kalaupapa, the quarantined leprosy settlement on the island of Moloka’i. Here her life is supposed to end, but instead she discovers it is only just beginning” (GoodReads).
“Leprosy may seem a macabre subject, but Brennert transforms the material into a touching, lovely account of a woman’s journey as she rises above the limitations of a devastating illness” (Amazon).