Blood and Orchids

by Norman Katkov

An assault on the wife of a Navy lieutenant shatters the idyllic facade of American life on the Hawaiian Islands in the 1930s, as four local boys are falsely accused of the crime

Genres: Historical Fiction, Fiction, Suspense

Hardcover

First published March 26, 1983

Reviews

[Julio The Fox · Rating 4 out of 5]

See if the following horrific scenario looks familiar: a privileged white woman accuses a pack, never an individual, of non-white boys of rape and battering her nearly to death. The police round up the first non-white suspects they can find, all go on trial and are inevitably convicted. The Central Park 5? The Scottsboro Boys in Alabama? Yes, but also the Massie case in Honolulu, Hawaii in 1931, retold in fiction form in BLOOD AND ORCHIDS, with names and dates changed. The wife of a U.S. Navy officer, Lieutenant Massie, accused four Hawaiian boys of rape and attempted murder near Waikiki Beach. (Remember Hawaii was a U.S. Territory, not a state back then.) This case, however, comes with a twist inside the rape+murder trope. The four boys had been spotted by the police on the other side of the island that night, establishing the perfect alibi. The jury found them all innocent. Lt. Massie, with the connivance of his mother-in-law, one of the wealthiest women on the island of Oahu, and two other officers, decided to kill "the swarthiest of the boys" his wife had fingered. The lynching proved so slovenly all four parties went on trial for conspiracy to murder. The judge found all four guilty but the Territorial Governor of Hawaii, sentenced them to a whopping one hour in prison. You read that sentence correctly. I won't reveal what happened to Mrs. Massie; let's just say her life did not end on a happy note. There is a terrific True Crime account of this case, entitled SOMETHING TERRIBLE HAS HAPPENED, but I choose the novel since it highlights race, class and gender in pre-war Hawaii in a way the non-fiction book fails to do.

[Paula · Rating 3 out of 5]

Hester Murdoch is found beaten in a parking lot by 4 Hawaiian boys, one of which insists they take her to the hospital against the pleas of the other boys. They drop her off and leave. When her wealthy mother arrives, she concocts a story to cover the infidelity of her daughter and a pregnancy. They say that the boys who saved her had beaten and raped her. This is a tragic story of what Hawaii was like for the inhabitants after the military came in and took over in 1931.

I didn't think this was a well written book and it certainly could have been shorter but the plot kept me interested until the last 3/4 of the book.

[Elizabeth · Rating 5 out of 5]

A novelization based on the true story of the famous Massie murder and rape case that shook Hawaii in the 1930s. Mrs. Massie is the wife of a young officer at Pearl Harbor. She blames four local Hawaiians for raping her rather than admitting she was drunk and sleeping with other officers at the base. Clarence Darrow rises to the defense. A riveting read.

[Avonne · Rating 4 out of 5]

Love love love. My fav

[Seana Kringler · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good book but I didn't like the ending. To me, the ending seemed rushed compared to the rest of the book.

[Sharon Buxton · Rating 2 out of 5]

D-. fiction; Hawaiian military, from stash; discard

[Mermarie]

Got this from the Goodwill today, it has an amazing stepback by Pino inside.

[Allison · Rating 4 out of 5]

I loved it. Never realized the racist history of Hawaii although I guess I should have.