Princess Kaiulani Of Hawaii

by Kristin Zambucka

The haunting story of the Scottish-Hawaiian Princess Victoria Ka'iulani; the fragile beauty who, as heir-apparent, was groomed all her life to be the future Queen of Hawai'i. Despite the struggles of loyal Royalists who fought for their beleaguered throne, Ka'iulani’s birthright was swept away forever when the monarchy was overthrown in January 1893 and Hawai'i was annexed to the United States on August 12, 1898. The Princess died seven months later, at the age of twenty-three.

80 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1982

Reviews

[Antone Silva · Rating 4 out of 5]

I am not a big fan of Hawaiian history, even considering I am part Hawaiian, due to so much negativity I have experienced by the sovereignty movement along with its many factions and the clashes with our government. But I found this book to be brief yet very informative.

The author writes her book through a series of letters, news articles, memoirs, and diaries from the view of Kaiulani, her family, friends and conspirators. It goes over her life and death along with a not too detailed history of the overthrow of the Hawaiian Monarchy. Brief as it was I feel I am a bit closer to my Hawaiian heritage than I ever was. It was a heart touching yet sobering read on how greed and propaganda had such a big impact on the overthrow. And how a great wrong was done to the Hawaiian people. I am glad I borrowed this book from the library and now looking forward to finding out more about my mixed heritage.

[Alesia · Rating 4 out of 5]

A wee bit stiff at first, but gets more interesting as it progresses. Doesn't really give any new information on the Princess, but the author does a fair amount of covering the political climate of the period. Another plus for me was this is written by a New Zealand author, and it's interesting to read Hawai'ian American history from an outside perspective.

[Abbi · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book was very poorly written and organized, but the subject matter was interesting!

[Wai'ala · Rating 5 out of 5]

I found this book to be well done the further I read into it. As a hapa Hawaiian born and raised in Hawaii nei by Sovereign parents I have at times great difficulty reading the accounts of this tragic time for our nation and our monarch. For me this book was informative, digestible and accurate on many accounts. Reading the stories of other citizens of that time that stood by our monarch like Lot Lane, the Royal Hawaiian Band and many others was also prideful and humbling. I also, enjoyed readying this story from a non american perspective. Lastly, I did noticed that the earlier editions of this book, that are much larger in scale also have many beautiful photos with descriptions that the smaller newer edition lacked.

I think this is a efficient book for people seeking a small but heartfelt bit of knowledge about Hawaii's last monarch and its overthrow.

[Magda · Rating 4 out of 5]

Sombre, with a deep sense of longing for that which had been, and was being lost, throughout. Felicitous use of Princess Ka’iulani’s letters and responses from her correspondences to build the story, which, ultimately, told of the usurpation of Hawaii by the provisional, largely American, “government”.
Short and concise book. Recommended.

On the other hand, the book was quite poorly edited, with grammatical and spelling mistakes throughout. Makes me wonder if the publishers hire editors or proofreaders anymore.

[Pamela · Rating 5 out of 5]

this was an interesting book and sad in alot of ways ..i for some reason didn't know Hawaii had it's on monarch and was destroyed and taken over by our american goverment anyways was a good book and it had good history to it..

[Candida · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a great book that offers so many answers to questions that about a piece of history not mentioned. A great read.

[J Riverbank · Rating 5 out of 5]

it saddened me to think that of ainahau all that's left is the ugly stamp of the princess kaiulani hotel

[Noah Letner · Rating 5 out of 5]

Well told and fast paced biography. History with letters and facts. A paradise ruined...

[Gianna Silva · Rating 4 out of 5]

I’ve always wanted to dive in and learn more about the history of the Hawaiian Monarchy. This book definitely gave a lot of insight into the final years of the Hawaiian Royal Family. Some of the writing was poor, but all of the information and history was worth the read!!