What do you think?
Rate this book
Song of the Exile
In this epic, original novel in which Hawaii's fierce, sweeping past springs to life, Kiana Davenport, author of the acclaimed Shark Dialogues, draws upon the remarkable stories of her people to create a timeless, passionate tale of love and survival, tragedy and triumph, survival and transcendence.
In spellbinding, sensual prose, Song of the Exile follows the fortunes of the Meahuna family—and the odyssey of one resilient man searching for his soul mate after she is torn from his side by the forces of war. From the turbulent years of World War II through Hawaii's complex journey to statehood, this mesmerizing story presents a cast of richly imagined characters who rise up magnificent and forceful, redeemed by the spiritual power and the awesome beauty of their islands.
In spellbinding, sensual prose, Song of the Exile follows the fortunes of the Meahuna family—and the odyssey of one resilient man searching for his soul mate after she is torn from his side by the forces of war. From the turbulent years of World War II through Hawaii's complex journey to statehood, this mesmerizing story presents a cast of richly imagined characters who rise up magnificent and forceful, redeemed by the spiritual power and the awesome beauty of their islands.
360 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1999
591 people are currently reading
2877 people want to read
About the author
Kiana Davenport
15 books251 followersKIANA DAVENPORT is descended from a full-blooded Native Hawaiian mother, and a Caucasian father from Talladega, Alabama. Her father, Braxton Bragg Davenport, was a sailor in the U.S. Navy, stationed at Pearl Harbor, when he fell in love with her mother, Emma Kealoha Awaawa Kanoho Houghtailing. On her mother's side, Kiana traces her ancestry back to the first Polynesian settlers to the Hawaiian Islands who arrived almost two thousand years ago from Tahiti and the Tuamotu's. On her father's side, she traces her ancestry to John Davenport, the puritan clergyman who co-founded the American colony of New Haven, Connecticut in 1638.
Kiana is the author of the internationally best-selling novels, SHARK DIALOGUES, SONG OF THE EXILE, HOUSE OF MANY GODS, THE SPY LOVER, and most recently, THE SOUL AJAR, now available in paperback and on Kindle
Kiana is the author of the internationally best-selling novels, SHARK DIALOGUES, SONG OF THE EXILE, HOUSE OF MANY GODS, THE SPY LOVER, and most recently, THE SOUL AJAR, now available in paperback and on Kindle
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 30 of 286 reviews
December 21, 2012
This is one of the best books I've ever read - I may select it as my next book club pick. I had a hard time getting into it, but it ended up being a beautiful book. The story takes place in and out of Hawaii before, during, and after World War II and before statehood. Somehow it blends the horrors for women in WWII with stories about native Hawaiians - their early pidgen talk, tales passed down through generations, the human spirit, the power of women, and much, much more. Kiana Davenport's writing is somewhat poetic. Its not poetry, but she creates a vision in every sentence. Her writing is powerful, intense. I learned new things about Hawaii and about the horrors of World War II. But I learned so much more that. It moved me so that I felt something when I finished it. There is something in her writing I can't describe, but it will stay with me. I placed the book on my Kindle and purchased her other two books - Shark Dialogues and House of Many Gods.
April 8, 2023
I loved this book. Like all great reading experiences, including the author’s stunning previous novel of Hawaii, ‘’Shark Dialogues,'’ this book is alive, its light like a blinding new dawn. Kiana Davenport can’t seem to write prose that isn’t poetic. You can’t get through more than a few pages without pausing to digest the exquisite beauty and emotional impact of what you’ve just read.
For those of us who love the islands and people of Hawaii, ‘’Song of the Exile’' is a feast, transporting us into the misty depths of Hawaiian life and lore. As a harrowing epic of World War 2, it also reveals for the first time the unsung legions of Pacific island and Asian women who were swept up in that horror. Among its other shining attributes, the book is a magnificent contribution to herstory.
Five stars seems insufficient.
Rich Flanders
richflandersmusic.com
For those of us who love the islands and people of Hawaii, ‘’Song of the Exile’' is a feast, transporting us into the misty depths of Hawaiian life and lore. As a harrowing epic of World War 2, it also reveals for the first time the unsung legions of Pacific island and Asian women who were swept up in that horror. Among its other shining attributes, the book is a magnificent contribution to herstory.
Five stars seems insufficient.
Rich Flanders
richflandersmusic.com
October 3, 2017
I gave this book 4.5 stars only because the first part (for me) dragged a little. It is a book about Hawaii and Hawaiians and what happened to the people when it became a territory of the US. It is like what happens to most people when a more powerful country takes over. It's about the years before, during and after WWII, music,New Orleans, Paris and Shanghai and the people and the prison camps in Asia and what happened to hundreds of thousands of girls and women in Asia. It is horrifying and as bad as what happened with the Nazis. The author explained in the acknowledgements about obtaining her information. Most books about WWII take place in Europe and I've read several of them but I really liked this one and highly recommend it.
August 22, 2011
It's been awhile since I read Shark Dialogues, and I'd forgotten the sensual Hawaiian-ness in Davenport's writing style. Every one of the senses is wide awake and open to a deep experience of the physical world.
October 21, 2023
I have never heard of this author Kiana Davenport before. My book club brought her to my attention and when I found out that she is a hapa author (native Hawaiian mother and white father), I felt compelled to read one of her books. The book cover of "Song of the Exile" really caught my eye and I usually enjoy reading historical fictions.
But this was a long book and overly ambitious. I only liked the bits in the book that are set in Hawaii. The parts set in Paris and especially Shanghai are horrible and unbelievable. The author writes about them as if they were the size of Honolulu. I couldn't take the story serious even though it deals with a very grim topic - comfort women in WWII. Of course, Paris and Shanghai are international cities, but the way the author wrote, you would think that those two cities were mixed like Honolulu. Yes, there are expats in Paris and Shanghai, but there is still a major local population too, especially in Shanghai.
It's a very ambitious book. We meet Keo, a native Hawaiian and his girlfriend Sunny, a half Korean half native Hawaiian. Keo is a natural musician and falls in love with jazz. He learns from the African American soldiers that pass-through Honolulu. Keo doesn't want to be mediocre and dreams of making it big. Sunny supports his dream and while she is still in university, she encourages him to sail away to Louisiana, the home of jazz, where he can learn and develop his skill more.
So far so good. But then the story moves to Paris. So many jazz musicians have left Europe due to the Nazi threat and Keo gets a gig in Paris. So, he goes there of course because Sunny has always dreamed about this city. To make things even more unbelievable, Sunny actually follows him all the way to Paris. She comes from a troubled family - her Korean father is abusive towards her Hawaiian mother. When he left Korea, her father was actually already married to a Korean woman but when their child was born with a disability, he abandoned his wife and daughter in Shanghai and continued his journey to Hawaii alone.
In Paris, their life is surrounded by expats and gypsies. Everybody speaks English. In the beginning, they are happy but then they slowly realize that the Nazis are committing atrocious crimes. Sunny suddenly becomes part of a group involved in moving the Louvre's artwork out of Paris. How unbelievable. She turns into a sort of social justice warrior and gets angry with Keo for playing jazz to Nazi officers. She suddenly leaves him and that's when the most unbelievable thing happens - she goes all alone to Shanghai to look for her long-lost disabled half-sister Lili. And then it gets worse. Keo actually follows her. He plays jazz in Shanghai and asks around if anybody has seen Sunny. And once again! They bump into each other. I don't want to spoil what happens next, but the Paris and Shanghai chapters were so cheesy, unbelievable and terrible.
But we get to know the characters. I enjoyed learning about Keo's and Sunny's parents. There are also two clairvoyants in the story, who play important roles in revealing some mysteries - Oogh and Pono. I liked them. But I thought the character development of Malia (the sister of Keo) was horrible. Out of the blue, Krash emerges and I couldn't comprehend their relationship at all. Malia was a strange character, who did the most unbelievable thing - she gave birth to a child and didn't tell the child that she was in fact her mother and didn't reveal the identity of the father until much later. I couldn't follow her logic at all. The author also had a tendency to sort of romanticize the Hawaiian characters. They were gorgeous, beautiful, wise, intelligent, while all the other ethnicities had faults. Also, all the evil Nazis and rapists that Keo punched or killed was over the top. Like a desperate way for the author to turn him into a superhero.
And don't get me started on the Japanese character Endo. So unbelievable. Paris, Rabaul, Honolulu. I won't say more. I liked how Sunny's chapters were written in italics and that we only hear her voice every now and then. Towards the second half of the book, when she suffers the tragedy of becoming a comfort woman, I warmed up towards her. Those parts were well written, especially what happened to them after the war. I always wonder what people who love Japan (culture, food) think about the comfort women in WWII that were kidnapped and raped by the Japanese soldiers. For some reason, many people only think that the Jews were the biggest victims of WWII. I don't want to get political, but we should all remember what happened to these poor women. This is very important history too.
For instance, I didn't know that when the Allied soldiers rescued the comfort women, they at first looked at these women as Japanese spies. It was only when the white comfort women (Dutch, British, Australian) revealed what had happened to them that they realized that these women were kidnapped and forced to become sex slaves for the Japanese soldiers. The women needed a lot of medical care and food. There's a scene in the book where some of the women who have regained their weight and some of their health, were approached by American soldiers, who gave them money in return for certain services. Horrible. Reading this book, I was googling a lot on comfort women and read several true-life stories. Words can't express what they went through. It is so sad. So, I am glad that the author addressed this topic in this book. But the Paris and Shanghai chapters were horrible. Malia's storyline was crap. The novel was too ambitious, just like Keo and Sunny.
'Ey! What wrong with mediocre? It mean ordinary, what most folks are. Ordinariness best kine quality. Look how mediocre man live - quiet, lazy, no bother others. T'ink 'bout digestion, making love, lying on beach. What better dan dat? Mediocre man understand life short, live while can. All dat other stuff - genius, originality, work, work, work - fo' da birds! Breed ugliness! Everybody come suspicious, competitive. "Who da best?" Who care who da best?'
But this was a long book and overly ambitious. I only liked the bits in the book that are set in Hawaii. The parts set in Paris and especially Shanghai are horrible and unbelievable. The author writes about them as if they were the size of Honolulu. I couldn't take the story serious even though it deals with a very grim topic - comfort women in WWII. Of course, Paris and Shanghai are international cities, but the way the author wrote, you would think that those two cities were mixed like Honolulu. Yes, there are expats in Paris and Shanghai, but there is still a major local population too, especially in Shanghai.
It's a very ambitious book. We meet Keo, a native Hawaiian and his girlfriend Sunny, a half Korean half native Hawaiian. Keo is a natural musician and falls in love with jazz. He learns from the African American soldiers that pass-through Honolulu. Keo doesn't want to be mediocre and dreams of making it big. Sunny supports his dream and while she is still in university, she encourages him to sail away to Louisiana, the home of jazz, where he can learn and develop his skill more.
So far so good. But then the story moves to Paris. So many jazz musicians have left Europe due to the Nazi threat and Keo gets a gig in Paris. So, he goes there of course because Sunny has always dreamed about this city. To make things even more unbelievable, Sunny actually follows him all the way to Paris. She comes from a troubled family - her Korean father is abusive towards her Hawaiian mother. When he left Korea, her father was actually already married to a Korean woman but when their child was born with a disability, he abandoned his wife and daughter in Shanghai and continued his journey to Hawaii alone.
In Paris, their life is surrounded by expats and gypsies. Everybody speaks English. In the beginning, they are happy but then they slowly realize that the Nazis are committing atrocious crimes. Sunny suddenly becomes part of a group involved in moving the Louvre's artwork out of Paris. How unbelievable. She turns into a sort of social justice warrior and gets angry with Keo for playing jazz to Nazi officers. She suddenly leaves him and that's when the most unbelievable thing happens - she goes all alone to Shanghai to look for her long-lost disabled half-sister Lili. And then it gets worse. Keo actually follows her. He plays jazz in Shanghai and asks around if anybody has seen Sunny. And once again! They bump into each other. I don't want to spoil what happens next, but the Paris and Shanghai chapters were so cheesy, unbelievable and terrible.
But we get to know the characters. I enjoyed learning about Keo's and Sunny's parents. There are also two clairvoyants in the story, who play important roles in revealing some mysteries - Oogh and Pono. I liked them. But I thought the character development of Malia (the sister of Keo) was horrible. Out of the blue, Krash emerges and I couldn't comprehend their relationship at all. Malia was a strange character, who did the most unbelievable thing - she gave birth to a child and didn't tell the child that she was in fact her mother and didn't reveal the identity of the father until much later. I couldn't follow her logic at all. The author also had a tendency to sort of romanticize the Hawaiian characters. They were gorgeous, beautiful, wise, intelligent, while all the other ethnicities had faults. Also, all the evil Nazis and rapists that Keo punched or killed was over the top. Like a desperate way for the author to turn him into a superhero.
And don't get me started on the Japanese character Endo. So unbelievable. Paris, Rabaul, Honolulu. I won't say more. I liked how Sunny's chapters were written in italics and that we only hear her voice every now and then. Towards the second half of the book, when she suffers the tragedy of becoming a comfort woman, I warmed up towards her. Those parts were well written, especially what happened to them after the war. I always wonder what people who love Japan (culture, food) think about the comfort women in WWII that were kidnapped and raped by the Japanese soldiers. For some reason, many people only think that the Jews were the biggest victims of WWII. I don't want to get political, but we should all remember what happened to these poor women. This is very important history too.
For instance, I didn't know that when the Allied soldiers rescued the comfort women, they at first looked at these women as Japanese spies. It was only when the white comfort women (Dutch, British, Australian) revealed what had happened to them that they realized that these women were kidnapped and forced to become sex slaves for the Japanese soldiers. The women needed a lot of medical care and food. There's a scene in the book where some of the women who have regained their weight and some of their health, were approached by American soldiers, who gave them money in return for certain services. Horrible. Reading this book, I was googling a lot on comfort women and read several true-life stories. Words can't express what they went through. It is so sad. So, I am glad that the author addressed this topic in this book. But the Paris and Shanghai chapters were horrible. Malia's storyline was crap. The novel was too ambitious, just like Keo and Sunny.
'Ey! What wrong with mediocre? It mean ordinary, what most folks are. Ordinariness best kine quality. Look how mediocre man live - quiet, lazy, no bother others. T'ink 'bout digestion, making love, lying on beach. What better dan dat? Mediocre man understand life short, live while can. All dat other stuff - genius, originality, work, work, work - fo' da birds! Breed ugliness! Everybody come suspicious, competitive. "Who da best?" Who care who da best?'
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
December 14, 2012
This book, at the core, was interesting. However, I felt that it was flawed in many ways, which ultimately took away from how much I enjoyed the experience of reading it.
Positives:
1. Lots of great and intriguing historical information (Hawaii becoming a state, WWII, Hawaiian folklore and mythology, comfort women)
2. Some of the characters had interesting lives - mostly ones that didn't get near enough focus - but they were enjoyable to read for the most part
Negatives:
1. WAY WAY WAY too much description of music. Especially in the beginning. It was BEYOND obnoxious. I read the interview at the end and the author said that the original book was over 1500 pages long, and then after 24 revisions, she figured out that she needed to make every word count. I'm pretty sure you could have nixed the part about whales stopping to listen to the character play. Pretty sure that isn't what one would call "essential." (...)
2. There were lots of parts, more in the end of the book, that switched character focus (not POV, though) mid page, and it was really confusing. I would start the chapter reading about Keo in one place, and then all of the sudden I'm reading about Malia in her shop. No connection at all. The book started as a back and forth between Keo and Sunny, and then all of a sudden everyone and their mom (literally) was getting the focus. It took away from my ability to understand it in parts.
3. There were WAY too many coincidences. I mean, people traveling across the world, meeting up in war, coming back to HI, and then meeting again? Not buying what you are selling. Sorry.
4. There were so many opportunities where I just wish the author would have gone in more depth. I felt like 75% of the book was totally just glossed over activity. Like months/years were covered in a short paragraph or when a character looked at the aftermath of the war, it was just way too generalized when I was really craving some more development and specifics.
In the end, it was "okay"...but I can't say I highly recommend it. I would say that parts of it (like 60%) was really a 2.5 stars.
Positives:
1. Lots of great and intriguing historical information (Hawaii becoming a state, WWII, Hawaiian folklore and mythology, comfort women)
2. Some of the characters had interesting lives - mostly ones that didn't get near enough focus - but they were enjoyable to read for the most part
Negatives:
1. WAY WAY WAY too much description of music. Especially in the beginning. It was BEYOND obnoxious. I read the interview at the end and the author said that the original book was over 1500 pages long, and then after 24 revisions, she figured out that she needed to make every word count. I'm pretty sure you could have nixed the part about whales stopping to listen to the character play. Pretty sure that isn't what one would call "essential." (...)
2. There were lots of parts, more in the end of the book, that switched character focus (not POV, though) mid page, and it was really confusing. I would start the chapter reading about Keo in one place, and then all of the sudden I'm reading about Malia in her shop. No connection at all. The book started as a back and forth between Keo and Sunny, and then all of a sudden everyone and their mom (literally) was getting the focus. It took away from my ability to understand it in parts.
3. There were WAY too many coincidences. I mean, people traveling across the world, meeting up in war, coming back to HI, and then meeting again? Not buying what you are selling. Sorry.
4. There were so many opportunities where I just wish the author would have gone in more depth. I felt like 75% of the book was totally just glossed over activity. Like months/years were covered in a short paragraph or when a character looked at the aftermath of the war, it was just way too generalized when I was really craving some more development and specifics.
In the end, it was "okay"...but I can't say I highly recommend it. I would say that parts of it (like 60%) was really a 2.5 stars.
March 14, 2018
This is not a book to be read quickly. It is so beautifully written, you don't want to miss a word. The back cover describes her prose as "spellbinding" and "sensual" and that is entirely accurate. It is a haunting and powerful story covering aspects of Hawaiian and American history and culture, as well as the Pacific side of World War 2 full of horrors equal to the Holocaust on the European side. It's an amazing testament to the power of love and particularly the courage and strength of women.
It's a love story that transcends time and place, beginning in Hawaii in the 1930s, where Keo, full-blooded Hawaiian, and Sunny, Hawaiian-Korean, fall in love but are kept apart by cultural divisions. Keo becomes a popular jazz trumpeter and eventually makes his way to Paris, where Sunny soon joins him. Unfortunately, they do not leave in time to avoid the Nazi invasion and struggle to survive the German occupation. Following Pearl Harbor, Sunny is desperate to go to Shanghai to find her long-lost sister, so she leaves Keo in Paris and sails to Shanghai......straight from the frying pan into the fire as the Japanese invade Shanghai. She is kidnapped by the Japanese and taken to Rabaul where she is imprisoned in a "comfort station", a camp for women to "entertain" Japanese soldiers. The story expands to cover Sunny's attempts at survival, Keo's desperate search for her despite his imprisonment as well, the effects of the war on their families back in Hawaii, and their eventual lives following the war all the way to statehood in 1959.
I will be reading Shark Dialogues, her previous book which apparently features as the main character one of the Hawaiian women in this book, whose story is truly fascinating.
It's a love story that transcends time and place, beginning in Hawaii in the 1930s, where Keo, full-blooded Hawaiian, and Sunny, Hawaiian-Korean, fall in love but are kept apart by cultural divisions. Keo becomes a popular jazz trumpeter and eventually makes his way to Paris, where Sunny soon joins him. Unfortunately, they do not leave in time to avoid the Nazi invasion and struggle to survive the German occupation. Following Pearl Harbor, Sunny is desperate to go to Shanghai to find her long-lost sister, so she leaves Keo in Paris and sails to Shanghai......straight from the frying pan into the fire as the Japanese invade Shanghai. She is kidnapped by the Japanese and taken to Rabaul where she is imprisoned in a "comfort station", a camp for women to "entertain" Japanese soldiers. The story expands to cover Sunny's attempts at survival, Keo's desperate search for her despite his imprisonment as well, the effects of the war on their families back in Hawaii, and their eventual lives following the war all the way to statehood in 1959.
I will be reading Shark Dialogues, her previous book which apparently features as the main character one of the Hawaiian women in this book, whose story is truly fascinating.
May 12, 2022
“Jazz is the sound of loneliness. It is the tongue of the exile.”
This is one of the most beautiful, powerful, and thought-provoking books I've ever read. Not only does it unflinchingly portray life on the sidelines and in prison camps during World War II, it also charts the journey of Hawaii against the backdrop of the war and the violence that permeated the islands' journey to statehood. It also shows us the stark reality of the racial discrimination native Hawaiians as well as other people of color faced during this time period, leading up to the racial discrimination we still face nowadays.
Song of the Exile is not a textbook. But it makes an excellent starting point for interested readers to find out more about the issues that Hawaii experience and in fact continues to experience. Keo, Sunny, and all the people whom their lives have touched make these events more concrete in the reader's mind. But if you were greatly affected by this book, going beyond fiction is just as important.
Can't recommend this enough. I'll be thinking about this book forever.
This is one of the most beautiful, powerful, and thought-provoking books I've ever read. Not only does it unflinchingly portray life on the sidelines and in prison camps during World War II, it also charts the journey of Hawaii against the backdrop of the war and the violence that permeated the islands' journey to statehood. It also shows us the stark reality of the racial discrimination native Hawaiians as well as other people of color faced during this time period, leading up to the racial discrimination we still face nowadays.
Song of the Exile is not a textbook. But it makes an excellent starting point for interested readers to find out more about the issues that Hawaii experience and in fact continues to experience. Keo, Sunny, and all the people whom their lives have touched make these events more concrete in the reader's mind. But if you were greatly affected by this book, going beyond fiction is just as important.
Can't recommend this enough. I'll be thinking about this book forever.
May 16, 2021
So basically this is all about how awesome jazz is and how it is superior to all other music.
This was not a good book for me. I'd recommend it to fans of Kristin Hannah & Zeyn Joukhadar. The writing is quite florid, and while the descriptions of the islands are lovely, the sex scenes can be downright disturbing.
I mean ...
Davenport has a thing about necks. The characters all look at necks, bend their necks, think about necks, admire necks, get erections when they see or think about necks.
Also, the Japanese do NOT come off well in this one. Even the Japanese characters who at first seem sympathetic turn out to be vile rapists and murderers and just generally kind of insane.
The ending felt like it was from an entirely different book. I guess the entire thing can be summed up as
There is a poignancy in jazz. A homesickness. Jazz, mon ami, is the tongue of the exile.Yeah, whatever. I cannot begin to describe how little I care about a guy falling in love with jazz, this is just not my thing.
This was not a good book for me. I'd recommend it to fans of Kristin Hannah & Zeyn Joukhadar. The writing is quite florid, and while the descriptions of the islands are lovely, the sex scenes can be downright disturbing.
I mean ...
He watched his dark, swollen penis enter her, like entering a pale, flute-edged conch, blue veins spidering her thighs. When he came, he thought his brain had burst, his skull detached and sizzling. He would die insane, stuck inside a haole. He screamed, struggled to pull out of her, but she did something with her hand and he was hard. He didn't even know her name.
She bowed her head like a young animal drinking at a trough, and brought his fingers to her lips. Her hair fell forward, exposing her neck. He covered that place with his forehead. She brought omens, exhilarations. She made him look up from his life.
The first time they made love, Keo felt he would do anything she asked. He would give her his trumpet, his lungs, his life! They moved on each other with a scratched-itch ecstasy, his kisses, animal mounting bites, him lathered and wetted in her vagina that felt like a slick, rolled up tongue sucking him to incandescence. Breathing, it seemed an achievement coming out of her, coming back alive, or half-alive, nothing left but sweat, stung marrow. Inflamed and semen-full, how beautifully she arched, how coming made her skin catch fire.
Davenport has a thing about necks. The characters all look at necks, bend their necks, think about necks, admire necks, get erections when they see or think about necks.
Also, the Japanese do NOT come off well in this one. Even the Japanese characters who at first seem sympathetic turn out to be vile rapists and murderers and just generally kind of insane.
The ending felt like it was from an entirely different book. I guess the entire thing can be summed up as
September 30, 2020
Más que la historia de un romance durante la II G.M., es un relato que reivindica las voces que fueron acalladas durante años, voces que buscan justicia, voces que han resistido al tiempo por un solo propósito, que todos sepan lo que esas mujeres tuvieron que padecer.
June 2, 2013
If anything, I loved this book even more than Shark Dialogues. It haunts me in a way I can't describe. The images it left me with will always be with me. The author, through interviews with World War II survivors, managed to grasp the abominations of war as well as anyone could. She hauntingly articulates the horrors war inflicts on both the conqueror and the conquered, and how the two are sometimes interchangeable.
The books opens with Sunny, held in the most horrific conditions imaginable, in a Japanese camp in Rabaul, Papua New Guinea. We've all heard the term "comfort girls" in relation to World War II. I doubt many of us are aware of the staggering numbers of women taken and the atrocities they endured. The Japanese captured and imprisoned as many as 200,000 girls and young women. Dubbed "comfort girls" this does not come close to describing what they became. Those who survived the starvation, disease, torture, medical experimentation, and brutal gang rapes were eventually liberated by the Allies. Because of the trauma they'd been subjected to, and the shame, these women could not or would not speak about what they had endured. It was only in the 90's the world began hearing what had really happened. This book helps bring a forgotten part of history to light.
The reader is then taken back in time, to Hawaii in the thirties. Sunny and Keo are in love. Jazz has taken a hold in the islands, clubs abound in Waikiki. Keo, a "beach boy", discovers a passion for jazz. Unable to read music, he painstakingly rebuilds an old piano, and learns to mimic the jazz greats. But in the end, it's the trumpet that wins him over. His need to play music leads him out of Sunny's arms, to New Orleans, then to Paris. Sunny eventually makes her way to Paris, back to Keo. But the young lovers are once again torn apart, first by his obsession with his music to the exclusion of everything else, and by her need to find her sister in Shanghai. Both are swept up in the horrors of war, and neither will ever be the same.
Though lacking any musical talent of my own, I've always been a big fan of jazz. Throughout the book, the author employed an endless variety of words to describe the haunting music, what it means to those who play it, how it reaches out to those of us who can only listen. "She hears that sorrow in Keo, always threatening to engulf him, a fiery grieving from his horn. Some nights his blowing is the execution of secret demons, each one of whom is valiantly resisting. He charms them, disembowels them, or lulls them into acquiescent ballads. His body folding around his horn, boneless as a glove."
This book is a must read for book clubs, for anyone who loves jazz, who loves historic novels, who just enjoys a gripping, gut-wrenching love story. Don't miss it!
The books opens with Sunny, held in the most horrific conditions imaginable, in a Japanese camp in Rabaul, Papua New Guinea. We've all heard the term "comfort girls" in relation to World War II. I doubt many of us are aware of the staggering numbers of women taken and the atrocities they endured. The Japanese captured and imprisoned as many as 200,000 girls and young women. Dubbed "comfort girls" this does not come close to describing what they became. Those who survived the starvation, disease, torture, medical experimentation, and brutal gang rapes were eventually liberated by the Allies. Because of the trauma they'd been subjected to, and the shame, these women could not or would not speak about what they had endured. It was only in the 90's the world began hearing what had really happened. This book helps bring a forgotten part of history to light.
The reader is then taken back in time, to Hawaii in the thirties. Sunny and Keo are in love. Jazz has taken a hold in the islands, clubs abound in Waikiki. Keo, a "beach boy", discovers a passion for jazz. Unable to read music, he painstakingly rebuilds an old piano, and learns to mimic the jazz greats. But in the end, it's the trumpet that wins him over. His need to play music leads him out of Sunny's arms, to New Orleans, then to Paris. Sunny eventually makes her way to Paris, back to Keo. But the young lovers are once again torn apart, first by his obsession with his music to the exclusion of everything else, and by her need to find her sister in Shanghai. Both are swept up in the horrors of war, and neither will ever be the same.
Though lacking any musical talent of my own, I've always been a big fan of jazz. Throughout the book, the author employed an endless variety of words to describe the haunting music, what it means to those who play it, how it reaches out to those of us who can only listen. "She hears that sorrow in Keo, always threatening to engulf him, a fiery grieving from his horn. Some nights his blowing is the execution of secret demons, each one of whom is valiantly resisting. He charms them, disembowels them, or lulls them into acquiescent ballads. His body folding around his horn, boneless as a glove."
This book is a must read for book clubs, for anyone who loves jazz, who loves historic novels, who just enjoys a gripping, gut-wrenching love story. Don't miss it!
September 4, 2009
This is one of the most beautiful but difficult books to read.....her prose reads like poetry and the historical information contained in the plot is well researched and heartbreaking.....one of my top 10 favorite books...
March 7, 2017
Powerful read about interesting characters and meaning of home.
February 24, 2025
Este es un libro q si hubiese sabido en un principio de q iba, igual no me lo hubiera leído; y no xq sea malo, todo lo contrario, si no x cobardía. Porque es terroríficamente doloroso y pensar q está basado en la realidad se hace bastante insoportable. El libro trata sobre la Segunda Guerra Mundial, centrándose en el contexto socio político de Hawaii y en los diversos campos de prisioneros de los japoneses, así como en las historias de las chicas-pi, algo q desconocía y q me ha encogido verdaderamente el corazón. A veces siento q a la sociedad se le olvida q las mujeres, a pesar de no haber llenado los frentes en las batallas, han sufrido destinos muchísimo peores q la muerte. ¿Es peor q te maten o q te arranquen la dignidad para siempre? Leer la historia de Sunny me ha dado ganas de vomitar. Pero también me ha hecho sentir una profunda empatía, muchísima pena y la firme intención de q no se me olvide nunca este periodo de la historia. En un momento del libro, Malia le dice desesperada a Sunny q la deje ayudarla, q la deje ser su amiga. Y Sunny, con toda la ternura del mundo, le dice q no puede hacer nada… salvo recordar.
Al final eso es lo único q podemos hacer x todas las Sunnys reales de 1940. Recordar y no olvidar sus historias para q su sufrimiento no sea en vano.
Otra cosa q me ha gustado mucho del libro es la forma en la q está escrito, la belleza de las descripciones, q todo sea tan poético y tan poco superficial. Me ha transportado a todos los lugares q ha querido, a las montañas y playas de Hawaii, a Shangai y sus callejuelas llenas de gente, a ese París siendo invadido lentamente x los nazis aun cuando parecía imposible; a los cubículos llenos de enfermedad de los barracones de prisioneros. He sentido escalofríos cuando Sunny trabajaba envolviendo las obras del Louvre, x su forma de describirlo, haciendo algo verdaderamente importante como salvar el legado de la humanidad del terror nazi… Uf. De verdad, estaría hablando de este libro durante horas.
y mi personaje favorito ha sudo Ugh, el enano vidente, que cada vez que aparecía en el puto libro me dejaba muerta con sus apreciaciones sobre la vida y lo q nos depara ésta. Como ese momento en el q le dijo a Keo q estamos vivos mientras tengamos la capacidad de asombrarnos o q de aquello a lo q le has entregado tu alma, no esperes regresar con vida.
Ha sido un libro absolutamente magnífico con el q he llorado y aprendido muchísimo. Y como dijo Alejandra Pizarnik: "Soy mujer. Y un entrañable calor me abriga cuando el mundo me golpea. Es el calor de las otras mujeres, de aquellas que no conocí, pero que forjaron un suelo común, de aquellas que amé aunque no me amaron, de aquellas que hicieron de la vida este rincón sensible, luchador, de piel suave y tierno corazón guerrero."
Al final eso es lo único q podemos hacer x todas las Sunnys reales de 1940. Recordar y no olvidar sus historias para q su sufrimiento no sea en vano.
Otra cosa q me ha gustado mucho del libro es la forma en la q está escrito, la belleza de las descripciones, q todo sea tan poético y tan poco superficial. Me ha transportado a todos los lugares q ha querido, a las montañas y playas de Hawaii, a Shangai y sus callejuelas llenas de gente, a ese París siendo invadido lentamente x los nazis aun cuando parecía imposible; a los cubículos llenos de enfermedad de los barracones de prisioneros. He sentido escalofríos cuando Sunny trabajaba envolviendo las obras del Louvre, x su forma de describirlo, haciendo algo verdaderamente importante como salvar el legado de la humanidad del terror nazi… Uf. De verdad, estaría hablando de este libro durante horas.
y mi personaje favorito ha sudo Ugh, el enano vidente, que cada vez que aparecía en el puto libro me dejaba muerta con sus apreciaciones sobre la vida y lo q nos depara ésta. Como ese momento en el q le dijo a Keo q estamos vivos mientras tengamos la capacidad de asombrarnos o q de aquello a lo q le has entregado tu alma, no esperes regresar con vida.
Ha sido un libro absolutamente magnífico con el q he llorado y aprendido muchísimo. Y como dijo Alejandra Pizarnik: "Soy mujer. Y un entrañable calor me abriga cuando el mundo me golpea. Es el calor de las otras mujeres, de aquellas que no conocí, pero que forjaron un suelo común, de aquellas que amé aunque no me amaron, de aquellas que hicieron de la vida este rincón sensible, luchador, de piel suave y tierno corazón guerrero."
February 8, 2024
Having just recently returned from Hawaii, I found solace in Davenport's vivid portrayal of Hawaii's misty depths and historical backdrop. The novel not only transported me back to familiar local places but also provided insightful knowledge about the land, its rich history, and the resilient spirit of its people.
One of the most poignant aspects of the book is its depiction of the harrowing experiences of individuals, especially women, during and after Pearl Harbor. Davenport's narrative sheds light on the plight of comfort women during World War II, offering a heartbreaking yet necessary exploration of a lesser-known aspect of history.
Set in a time before the proliferation of hotels, the novel offers a glimpse into Hawaii's past, capturing the essence of a simpler yet tumultuous era. The debates surrounding statehood add an intriguing layer to the story, offering readers a glimpse into the political and social dynamics of Hawaii on the brink of significant change.
Overall, "Song of the Exile" is a poignant and enlightening read that seamlessly weaves together history, culture, and human resilience. Davenport's masterful storytelling invites readers to embark on a journey of discovery and reflection, making it a must-read for anyone seeking to delve deeper into the soul of Hawaii.
One of the most poignant aspects of the book is its depiction of the harrowing experiences of individuals, especially women, during and after Pearl Harbor. Davenport's narrative sheds light on the plight of comfort women during World War II, offering a heartbreaking yet necessary exploration of a lesser-known aspect of history.
Set in a time before the proliferation of hotels, the novel offers a glimpse into Hawaii's past, capturing the essence of a simpler yet tumultuous era. The debates surrounding statehood add an intriguing layer to the story, offering readers a glimpse into the political and social dynamics of Hawaii on the brink of significant change.
Overall, "Song of the Exile" is a poignant and enlightening read that seamlessly weaves together history, culture, and human resilience. Davenport's masterful storytelling invites readers to embark on a journey of discovery and reflection, making it a must-read for anyone seeking to delve deeper into the soul of Hawaii.
April 8, 2025
Why did it take me almost a decade to pick up this book, and 3 full months to read it? Did I love it? Did I hate it? Well, Song of the Exile is a sweeping historical epic, spanning over 2 decades, 3 continents and a world war. So it's not a surprise that I found it compelling and captivating, as well as a bit tedious and traumatic at times (the mere mention of "comfort women" and my innards get a bit jelly). Did I find the read worth the time and heartbreak? Absolutely, and I highly recommend it to anyone who as any interest in Hawaii, or WWII from an indigenous perspective.
April 18, 2019
There wasn't anything thing I liked about this book - it was for book club and I had to work to finish it - everyone else in my book club (of those who read the book) liked it very much. Just not for me.
September 29, 2019
This is an amazing, well-researched, heart-rending history lesson of Hawai'i during WWII and up to statehood. I could not put it down, except to dry my eyes. I learned a lot about jazz, the strengths of the Hawaiian people, and the horrific treatment of women by the Japanese during the war.
January 25, 2023
I feel like this book was written just for me.
March 8, 2022
3.5 Stars
January 27, 2023
Beautiful and haunting. The interweaving of Hawaiian and WWII history from the early 30s to 1959 (the year Hawaii became a state) was spell-like. It's clear SO much thought and research went into telling this underrepresented side of WWII and its aftermath.
August 21, 2015
I rarely give a book 5 stars, but this book is not only a great literary work, but also brought to my attention a topic of which I was completely unaware. Until I read this book I did not know that hundreds of thousands of women were enslaved in prisons by the Japanese during World War II, tortured and murdered and that no one really has spoken of this until some of these women came forward in the 1990s. Additionally this book is an education in Hawaiian forklore, customs and traditions. Kiana Davenport transports us to the Island of Hawaii, to New Orleans, to Paris, Shanghai and the terrible prisoner camps where the horrendous experiences of the main characters, Keo and Sunny are portrayed. I loved the characters in this book. I loved the music in Keo's life and I loved the determination and defiance of Sunny. Although it does not end the way I wanted, I understood the ending and the solutions the characters found for their own lives. Davenport's writing style is magnificent. I could see and feel the experiences of the characters. Her writing is beautiful, in some instances it is pure poetry. I highly recommend this book. It is graphic in war and prison descriptions, but Davenport brings the events to life.
July 8, 2019
I read and remember enjoying Kiana Davenport's Shark Dialogues a couple years ago. It had a lot more magical realism, and so I went into this book with those expectations, but there wasn't much magic to speak of (though main character Pono from Shark Dialogues does play a small role in this book). Instead, this book is much more of a "standard" historical fiction romance, though very epic in scope— Davenport does a good job of covering some of the lesser-known parts of WWII, including the forced prostitution of captured women by the Japanese troops. Given the subject matter, this book has major trigger warnings for wartime atrocities, including pain, death, mutilation, rape, etc. Davenport is a very physical writer, so she renders these tragedies (as well as her sex scenes) in graphic detail, making them that much more impactful. Unfortunately, neither historical fiction nor romance is really my cup of tea, and I had a hard time getting into this book, so the 3-star rating is indicative of my personal taste rather than the objective quality.
June 22, 2020
It was hard for me to put down this book. I lived for many years in Hawaii and I longed to listen to the language for as long as possible. The book is, as described, poetic - to a fault. I got tired of the pattern of short not quite complete sentences. The book is, yes, about war, and imho, unnecessarily morbid, even so. And, it's just too drawn out. I was so relieved when we finally caught up to Sunny, whom we hadn't heard from in awhile, and it was 1945 - only to be sent back in time to Keo a few years earlier and basically relive the exact same thing - his prison experience which could hardly differ exponentially from hers, certainly not in the gory details that the author spared no effort in recounting - think maggots. At first, I enjoyed historical details in areas with which I was both aware and unaware. I enjoyed the rarity of a fictional novel with a hero and heroine from Hawaii. Nevertheless, after getting kicked back in time to hear more about lice and centipedes and human cruelty, and the couple that just cannot get their act together, I DNF'd.
October 7, 2017
El libro cuenta con 507 paginas, que en realidad me hicieron sufrir por mucho tiempo y sufrir de la mala manera, el libro se me hizo muy pesado, tal vez por el tema de la segunda guerra mundial, a veces sentía que no pasaba nada, que estaba leyendo relleno, siento que la historia es muy trágica para mi gusto, que tenía muy poca emoción, yo diría que lo que más me gusto del libro fue su portada, el paisaje que se encuentra en ella me transporta inmediatamente a un Hawái hermoso y cautivador y lamentablemente la historia no fue capaz de hacer eso conmigo, con respecto a la construcción de personajes también sentí que me quedaron debiendo algo, encontré personajes desesperantes como la madre de Sunny, que solo me inspiraron desesperación por acabar el libro y con ello mi tormento, sé que sería muy duro decir que no leería nada más de esta autora pero la próxima vez lo pensaría un poco más.
December 30, 2021
star crossed lovers get torn apart by war, and they spend the rest of the story searching for one another. its very vast, and it takes place in various parts of the world (not just Hawaii). the details of war were very graphic. boy, the ending was something else. it’s been couple years since i read it, but i remember where i was and the exact time of night. i can only say that about one other book, and that’s the Hunchback of Notre Dame. i felt the whole shebang of emotions while reading it. it’s definitely a sad one, and one that will forever stay with you, but it’s worth it.
July 1, 2014
I actually read this when it was first published but had not remembered until a few pages into it, but it was so good I decided to read it again.
It's a very poetic novel and she describes music better than any writer I've ever read. It's a good story with good characters and she possesses that amazing ability to take you to the place she writes about.
It's one of those beautiful novels you almost have to put down because the imagery and poetry is so intense it doesn't absorb you as much as it provokes you - in a very great way.
It's a very poetic novel and she describes music better than any writer I've ever read. It's a good story with good characters and she possesses that amazing ability to take you to the place she writes about.
It's one of those beautiful novels you almost have to put down because the imagery and poetry is so intense it doesn't absorb you as much as it provokes you - in a very great way.
April 22, 2019
Oof...I did like the focus on some lesser-known history, but so much of this book revolved around women reliant upon men or having little to do apart from the men in their lives. There were also a few points of homophobia that didn't sit well even in spite of the context.
I am also split on the audio. For a white woman, the reader Gabrielle de Cuir does an OK job with the Hawaiian and pidgin, but the production quality is pretty shaky and there are reeeeeally corny and distracting music patches throughout.
I am also split on the audio. For a white woman, the reader Gabrielle de Cuir does an OK job with the Hawaiian and pidgin, but the production quality is pretty shaky and there are reeeeeally corny and distracting music patches throughout.
November 2, 2013
A truly moving tale about the lives and tragedies surrounding WWII and the melting pot of pacific cultures called Hawaii.
The author explores relationships between men and women, duty and destiny in ways that are striking and unforgettable.
This is a portrait that I will never forget... Not an easy one to take in, but a powerful tale and a story that makes me a more empathetic and compassionate storyteller! Well done!
The author explores relationships between men and women, duty and destiny in ways that are striking and unforgettable.
This is a portrait that I will never forget... Not an easy one to take in, but a powerful tale and a story that makes me a more empathetic and compassionate storyteller! Well done!
January 30, 2016
I am utterly, thoroughly gutted.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 286 reviews