What readers think of Moloka'i, plus links to write your own review.

I read this book because it was the book of the month for my book club. I really wasn't excited about the subject matter at first, but after the first few pages, I couldn't put the book down.

Moloka'i is a wonderful novel with warm and human characters. The historical setting of the book educated me about a part of American history of which I was ignorant. I am enriched by the education.

When I first picked up this book I was a bit taken aback by the subject matter. Somehow a story about leprosy didn't quite appeal to me. However, once I started reading I was hooked. This is not just a story about a disease, but of a strong woman. I found myself relating to Rachel and her friends. It is an excellent read.

Mahalo to Teri for her very generous review of my novel Moloka'i. But as for the supposed "slip up" she brings up, well, I never claimed to be a kama'aina, and there probably are errors in the book I'm not aware of...but in regard to the mosquitoes I must respectfully point out that Susan Scott's "Plants and Animals of Hawai'i" states, "Mosquitoes are also troublemakers for both people and animals in Hawai'i. Researchers believe that the first mosquitoes arrived in 1826... By the 1830s, people described mosquitoes as numerous and annoying on O'ahu and Kaua'i... People brought several kind of minnows to Hawai'i in 1905 to help in mosquito control."

Another reference book says, "Mosquitoes were once unknown on the islands... Whatever their introduction, mosquitoes are kama'aina now, setting up nurseries in any stagnant water they can find..." There was just such stagnant water in the flats of Kalihi back in the 1890s, when Rachel took her swim, and my mention of them in Moloka'i was taken from a reference source about the hospital. (There was also an area of Iwilei called Mosquito Flats in the 1920s and 30s, which wouldn't have been so named if the bug was unknown in the islands.)

I admit, the little buggers are not a major problem in Hawai'i today, but I do maintain that my mention of them in Moloka'i is historically accurate.

Again, thanks to Teri for her otherwise glowing review. I'm glad those pesky mosquitoes didn't interfere with her enjoyment of the book!