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Behold the Many
In 1913, stricken by tuberculosis, young Anah, Aki, and Leah are sent away from their family for treatment at St. Joseph's, an orphanage in Hawai'i's Kalihi Valley. Of the three, two will die there, and only Anah, the eldest, will survive. But the ghosts of the dead sisters will haunt Anah as she prepares to begin married life away from the orphanage. Desperate for the love of their sister, but jealous of her ability to live in the physical world, they are determined to thwart Anah's happiness. As Anah struggles to appease the dead, it becomes apparent that only through one of her own daughters can redemption be attained.
Poignant, lyrical, and utterly compelling, Behold the Many is a stunning novel that glows with longing and life.
Poignant, lyrical, and utterly compelling, Behold the Many is a stunning novel that glows with longing and life.
352 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 2006
9 people are currently reading
301 people want to read
About the author
Lois-Ann Yamanaka
15 books88 followersLois-Ann Yamanaka is the author of Saturday Night at the Pahala Theatre, Wild Meat and the Bully Burgers, Blu's Hanging, Heads by Harry, Name Me Nobody, Father of the Four Passages, The Heart's Language, and Behold the Many. Her work has received numerous awards including the Hawai'i Award for Literature, the American Book Award, the Children's Choice for Literature, the Pushcart Prize for poetry, and Yamanaka was the recipient of a National Endowment for the Arts Fellowship.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 42 reviews
March 2, 2016
This book isn't for everyone.
That being said, the reasons why many people won't like this book is exactly why I loved this novel. The setting is historical fiction, with mystical realism characters, and themes of what it meant to be the children of poor immigrants in Hawaii, and to be a woman at that time. Using beautiful, poetic language, the author describes bleak circumstances, and the hard realities of the time. Her characters also speak in pidgin, Portuguese, Hawaiian, and Japanese. It took me a few chapters to really understand what was being said.
I loved that this was a difficult read, that it made me think, to put myself in circumstances that I never have, and never will be in. I have only understood Hawaii as a tourist, and so have never thought about the historical and current realities and politics and cultures that are at play. As a mother and wife, I loved that the main character's sex life after giving birth is talked about, a thing that is really mentioned in fiction. I loved the journey to God, or to the divine, to reconciliation with the past and the future, and the strong female characters. I wouldn't recommend this book to everyone, but for anyone looking for a fascinating historical novel about Hawaii, or about family, who want to be changed by what they read, this is the book for you.
That being said, the reasons why many people won't like this book is exactly why I loved this novel. The setting is historical fiction, with mystical realism characters, and themes of what it meant to be the children of poor immigrants in Hawaii, and to be a woman at that time. Using beautiful, poetic language, the author describes bleak circumstances, and the hard realities of the time. Her characters also speak in pidgin, Portuguese, Hawaiian, and Japanese. It took me a few chapters to really understand what was being said.
I loved that this was a difficult read, that it made me think, to put myself in circumstances that I never have, and never will be in. I have only understood Hawaii as a tourist, and so have never thought about the historical and current realities and politics and cultures that are at play. As a mother and wife, I loved that the main character's sex life after giving birth is talked about, a thing that is really mentioned in fiction. I loved the journey to God, or to the divine, to reconciliation with the past and the future, and the strong female characters. I wouldn't recommend this book to everyone, but for anyone looking for a fascinating historical novel about Hawaii, or about family, who want to be changed by what they read, this is the book for you.
November 21, 2012
Reminded me a bit of Peony in Love with unsettled, needy, lonely ghosts, in this case the ghosts of children particularly Anah's sisters Aki and Leah who die of tuberculosis in St. Joseph's orphanage.
Anah is also in the orphanage, sick with tuberculosis. Anah, Aki and Leah's situation is worse than some as they have been deserted by their family as well.
Anah falls in love and at 18 is able to leave the orphanage and marry the boy she loves. But she is plagued by the ghost of her husband's dead brother, who also died at the orphanage by falling out of a tree. Her sisters are around as well, angry at her for living and for having a home again. Through the years of her childbearing and married life the ghosts keep up their campaign of cursing her and crying.
I was never not interested in the story but it was slow moving sometimes and seemed to repeat itself a lot.
All the Hawaiian history is interesting, the pidgin is hard for me to understand as not all of it is based in English. Anah and her siblings are Japanese and Portuguese. The story does not lend itself to an admiration of the Portuguese character.
Anah is also in the orphanage, sick with tuberculosis. Anah, Aki and Leah's situation is worse than some as they have been deserted by their family as well.
Anah falls in love and at 18 is able to leave the orphanage and marry the boy she loves. But she is plagued by the ghost of her husband's dead brother, who also died at the orphanage by falling out of a tree. Her sisters are around as well, angry at her for living and for having a home again. Through the years of her childbearing and married life the ghosts keep up their campaign of cursing her and crying.
I was never not interested in the story but it was slow moving sometimes and seemed to repeat itself a lot.
All the Hawaiian history is interesting, the pidgin is hard for me to understand as not all of it is based in English. Anah and her siblings are Japanese and Portuguese. The story does not lend itself to an admiration of the Portuguese character.
March 21, 2008
Beautiful book, so well written. Gorgeous syntax and style. Sad, but so satisfying to read. You will be immersed in history. It gives you a good picture of plantation life and the co-mingling of cultures and ethnicities in Hawaii during the early 1900's.
February 22, 2010
In 1913, Tomas Madeiros sends his youngest daughter Leah, stricken with tuberculosis, to a Catholic orphanage in Oahu's Kalihi Valley. Her older sister Aki follows in 1914, and eldest sister Anah in 1915. Although the girls' mother Sumi and beloved brother Charles promise to visit, on the one visiting day each month, the Madeiros girls are the only patients who receive no one. As far as Tomas and eldest son Thomas are concerned, the girls are dead, and Tomas doesn't allow either Charles, now living as a virtual slave to his father's extended family, nor Sumi who is half-mad with grief to visit. Anah, at age 8 a surrogate mother to her two younger sisters, repeatedly promises that they will all go home one day. When first Leah and later Aki die, their spirits stay with Anah, Leah to beg to be taken home and Aki to torment Anah for her "lies." Although Anah survives TB and eventually leaves the orphanage to marry, she no longer has any blood family, except the ghosts of her sisters and father who continue to demand and extract sacrifices from her.
This isn't an easy book to read. There is brutality on every single page and Yamanaka doesn't shy away from the graphic. But there is also goodness and compassion, despite everything. It's not a happy story, but it is hopeful and redemptive. This is Yamanaka's fifth and probably best novel. She has an uncanny ability to convey a fully formed character in just a single line of dialogue, and her prose is elegant but highly emotional, in the sense that you shouldn't read this book in public unless you want strangers to come up and ask you why you're crying. I would recommend Behold the Many to anyone, with the caveat that much of the dialogue is written in Hawaiian pidgin. It's not difficult to understand; even if you're not familiar with pidgin, you get most of it from context, but it does require a little extra effort from the reader, so you kind of have to be in the right mood.
This isn't an easy book to read. There is brutality on every single page and Yamanaka doesn't shy away from the graphic. But there is also goodness and compassion, despite everything. It's not a happy story, but it is hopeful and redemptive. This is Yamanaka's fifth and probably best novel. She has an uncanny ability to convey a fully formed character in just a single line of dialogue, and her prose is elegant but highly emotional, in the sense that you shouldn't read this book in public unless you want strangers to come up and ask you why you're crying. I would recommend Behold the Many to anyone, with the caveat that much of the dialogue is written in Hawaiian pidgin. It's not difficult to understand; even if you're not familiar with pidgin, you get most of it from context, but it does require a little extra effort from the reader, so you kind of have to be in the right mood.
December 30, 2022
This was a cool book to read knowing what all of the locations look like almost 100 years later. Set in Hawaii in the first three decades of the 20th century, it is a coming-of-age story that follows the life of Anah, a daughter of plantation worker immigrant parents. The writing was a bit challenging to read at times because of the narration but the main character was incredibly likeable. The unexpected love story through the second half of the book was incredibly endearing. I’m a sucker for a bit of magical realism and old Hawaii, otherwise I probably would have rated this book a bit lower.
November 11, 2012
Behold the Many, set in Hawaii from 1913 to 1939, tells the story of Anah, a half-Japanese and half-Portuguese girl who is sent to an orphanage along with her younger sisters after all three get tuberculosis. Anah's beloved mother and brother seem to forget her there, and when her sisters die, she is alone in the world except for their vindictive spirits, who punish her for surviving and lying to them about their family coming to bring them home. Yamanaka's depiction of the ghost children is both terrifying and unbearably sad, and I was fascinated by the way she wove this supposedly "pagan" belief into the strict Catholicism of the nuns who run the orphanage. All the cultural elements of this novel were interesting, especially since I have not read before about the bitter prejudices between the various ethnic groups who settled in Hawaii.
While Anah's story does start out depressing and slightly disturbing (which was one reason it took me so long to read this), the entrance of Ezroh, Anah's best friend and future husband, brings positive changes to Anah's life and to the novel. I loved Anah and Ezroh's courtship, but was disappointed by the way Yamanaka picked up and dropped characters out of the narrative at her convenience. After Anah and Ezroh get married, his previous positive characterization is completely altered, as Yamanaka only focuses on one aspect of their married life, one which makes Ezroh look like an oblivious pig. The last third of the novel, focused on Anah's difficulties with pregnancy and childbirth, was also terribly sad, but Yamanaka does not shy away from depicting the realities of life for Anah, a woman of undesirable ethnic heritage, even after she finds a home of her own.
While this is a slightly depressing, dark, and emotionally difficult novel because of the subject matter, it is beautifully written and executed. My review cannot do Behold the Many justice, and as one of the most unique novels I have read, I recommend it.
While Anah's story does start out depressing and slightly disturbing (which was one reason it took me so long to read this), the entrance of Ezroh, Anah's best friend and future husband, brings positive changes to Anah's life and to the novel. I loved Anah and Ezroh's courtship, but was disappointed by the way Yamanaka picked up and dropped characters out of the narrative at her convenience. After Anah and Ezroh get married, his previous positive characterization is completely altered, as Yamanaka only focuses on one aspect of their married life, one which makes Ezroh look like an oblivious pig. The last third of the novel, focused on Anah's difficulties with pregnancy and childbirth, was also terribly sad, but Yamanaka does not shy away from depicting the realities of life for Anah, a woman of undesirable ethnic heritage, even after she finds a home of her own.
While this is a slightly depressing, dark, and emotionally difficult novel because of the subject matter, it is beautifully written and executed. My review cannot do Behold the Many justice, and as one of the most unique novels I have read, I recommend it.
March 16, 2009
This book brought me back to reading after going through years in school where extra curricular books were not an option. I remember being utterly transported and engrossed. The writing is so lovely, yet dark. It was at turns frightening and others exhilarating. This was a great example of how a writer can write about sad things without depressing the reader, while still allowing us to feel so deeply for the characters we are getting to know.
September 10, 2022
This book was, for me, original in so many ways. Set in early twentieth century Hawaii, the story follows Ana, the daughter of a Japanese mother and Portuguese-descended father. Due to tuberculosis, Anah and her sisters are sent to live in a Catholic-run orphanage cum hospital. Anah lives there from the ages of 10 to 18, when she leaves and, you hope, to finally live a life of safety and happiness. But since the book is but half over, you know that is not to be.
Narrated using English, Japanese, Portuguese, pidgin and indigenous Hawaiian languages, this book exposes the ugly history of enslavement, servitude, racism, misogyny, colonialism, sexism, and general brutality, presenting the Hawaiian Islands as a lawless wild west where the strong crushed the weak for their own opportunity. It is not the Hawaii depicted in travel brochures. The book only gets darker as it goes along. It is not for the faint of heart.
Narrated using English, Japanese, Portuguese, pidgin and indigenous Hawaiian languages, this book exposes the ugly history of enslavement, servitude, racism, misogyny, colonialism, sexism, and general brutality, presenting the Hawaiian Islands as a lawless wild west where the strong crushed the weak for their own opportunity. It is not the Hawaii depicted in travel brochures. The book only gets darker as it goes along. It is not for the faint of heart.
December 10, 2020
This would not be my usual fare to read, but it was recommended to me. I loved the book, the story, the language. The only regret that I didn't understand all the words.
I loved the insight into what life must have been for poor people in Hawaii early in the 20th century. So far removed from the life in Europe. Although some things never change; that being the conduct of the nuns and their treatment of people they thought beneath them.
I may look into getting other books by the same writer.
I loved the insight into what life must have been for poor people in Hawaii early in the 20th century. So far removed from the life in Europe. Although some things never change; that being the conduct of the nuns and their treatment of people they thought beneath them.
I may look into getting other books by the same writer.
August 5, 2019
Deeply affecting not just because of the array of characters all of whom seem to be wounded, but also because of the history and world Ms. Yamanaka takes us into. This is a brutal Hawaii far from tropical beaches and gentle tradewinds.
September 9, 2020
This book moved me. I live in Honolulu and have enjoyed reading the descriptions of the locales in the time period of the story, it has given me insight today of what life was like for immigrants making their lives here. People carving out lives for themselves from nothing enduring different cultures, languages, religions work and foods all mingled together. The personal journey of the three sisters was very moving for me. I want the book to continue on and on.
May 11, 2022
Hands down one of my all time favorites. i could not put it down. Not everyone will enjoy this one, but it is beautifully written. Set in Hawaii, you will feel sadness, but not depression and you will get a glimpse of post-contact Hawaii. The author is splendid.
May 4, 2023
What a whirlwind. I got into it for the ghosts, I stayed for the deep dive into Hawaii, and I was emotionally wiped by the end. Some beautiful writing. So much nature. I loved the mix of English, Portuguese, Japanese, and pidgin.
April 5, 2021
3.5 stars. Sometimes I think the shock factor of some of the events gets in the way of the nuances and difficulties of grief.
May 13, 2022
This book is gorgeous.
I read it when it came out, and it has been a treasured member of my library ever since.
Currently re-reading.
I read it when it came out, and it has been a treasured member of my library ever since.
Currently re-reading.
December 16, 2008
Behold the Many is set in Hawaii and is the story of Leah, the child of a Portuguese father and Japanese mother. When she and two younger sisters get tuberculosis they are sent to a Catholic orphanage to recover but are, for all intents and purposes, abandoned. After the two sisters die, Leah is visited by her sister's ghosts, all of the other children who died at the orphanage and most horrifyingly her incredibly abusive father who continues to molest his ghost children. These ghosts continue to haunt her into adulthood and when she starts to miscarry she slowly loses touch with the love in her life.
This was an incredibly painful book to read and will stay with me for a long time. The characters in this novel are so tortured that it is easy to believe that they are cursed even into the afterlife.
This was an incredibly painful book to read and will stay with me for a long time. The characters in this novel are so tortured that it is easy to believe that they are cursed even into the afterlife.
September 20, 2008
I finished this book at last and it will stay with me for a long time. It seemed to take me forever to write but I liked the main character so much, I had to finish it. It is a bit difficult to read because the author writes in broken English--pidgin, Japanese, and Portuguese--and the story is heavy--3 young sisters who are sent to an orphanage in 1913 Hawaii because they have TB and their parents cannot care of them. Father is Portuguese (and an abuser)and Mother is Japanese--interracial marriages were frowned upon. The focus of the story is one of the sisters and her thoughts and actions. At times the writing is like poetry. -beti
February 23, 2008
I'm reading this book for a second time and it feels just like the first time. Though it is a novel, every bit of it is poetry. The story follows a girl as she grows up through Hawaii's plantation days. We follow her through her battles of tuberculosis, a hellish orphanage, friendships, puberty, love, marriage, racism, and motherhood. Of course, that's a few things this book is about. I warn you though that a lot of the dialogue is written in pidgin so many will probaby find it hard to understand.
January 21, 2012
Yamanaka captures a haunting snapshot of the cultural and spiritual clashes of immigrant Hawai`i at the turn of the century. Through graceful pidgin and intimate detail of a land and people from a Hawaiian era long ago, Yamanaka immersed me in an ominous tale of a cursed, hapa orphan fighting to secure a sense of family and belonging. A story filled with magical realism, painful loss, and elegant imagery, Behold the Many enveloped me in one resilient spirit's journey to finding genuine love and true home.
August 9, 2016
I think I set myself up for a little disappointment here, because Blu's Hanging is still one of the best books I ever read. I didn't get the dimensions between siblings and family as much in this work, and I am sure that distance was intended to demonstrate the frailty of life and how emotions couldn't be spared in the face of tragedy after tragedy. But it was still hard to relate. Add to that some ghostly conversation turns, and I felt a little lost at moments in the narrative. But Yamanaka is still amazing and it was well worth the read.
December 3, 2015
Sad, deep, yet heart warming and encouraging for women to stay strong to survive. Not sure if you can truly translate the pidgin to capture the true essence of the hard immigrant multi-cultural life of those times. Excellent historical fiction story about plantation life in early 1900s in Hawaii. I truly felt like I was there and yearned to enjoy the fragrances of white ginger, pikake, and other aromatic floral and fauna scents of old Oahu.
January 4, 2008
Yamanaka is one of the most powerful writers of our time and I was once again impressed with her use of magical realism in historical Hawai'i. Anah, the protagonist sees ghosts, but she is so believable that even the reader understands her visions to be true. Like her other novels, Yamanaka's latest is painful and often an emotional read, but so very, very good.
November 15, 2009
Yamanaka achieves a certain brutal softness in this novel. Imaginative and lyrically written. I particularly like how there is no line between the spirit world and the world of man as Yamanaka envisions it in this book. It's all one. Her use of child narrator is a little different than some of her other works, but still a delight to read.
October 19, 2012
I don't know how I feel about this book. Interestingly written and unpredictable, but also uncomfortable. This book isn't long, but it took me a while to get through it because I both did and did not want to keep reading. I'm glad I finished though. Once you start you should probably read to the end.
October 24, 2016
A compelling portrait of a place and time long past that forms the cultural memories of modern Hawaii. There's no nostalgia for racism, poverty, and oppression. Despite the honest look at the past, there's still a warm glow of affections for what makes Hawaii the weird, wonderful cultural stew it is.
November 3, 2008
A touching story about 3 sisters who were sent to a Hawaiian orphanage and the ghosts of the 2 younger sisters who die. As with all Yamanaka books, the pidgin sometimes trip up the reading but all in all, a fairly easy read. Note, it will leave you with a heavy heart though.
October 2, 2009
This book is beautifully painful. Not sure I enjoyed it; it's gruesome, graphic and disturbing (especially the part about Anah's births), but does give an insight into Hawaiian culture or history and interesting characters including the ghosts.
August 9, 2015
This would have been a great book to listen to because it is written using pidgin and words from many other languages. It showed how truly diverse Hawaii is. You must prepare yourself for tragedy and abuse throughout the entire book, but the ending is satisfying.
August 19, 2010
Kinda disjointed at first, and doesn't seem like the typical Yamanaka style. Eventually though, the story gains cohesiveness, and we begin to see the snapshots of poignant moments that weave together to make a beautifully tragic story.
October 16, 2007
I love all of Yamanaka's books. She gets better and better with every book. This one is stunning.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 42 reviews