Play Book Tag discussion

In the late 19th century in Korea, a little girl named Regret wants more from life than what Korean girls get in the late 19th century. She wants to go to school, she wants freedom, she wants something other than being sold to another man’s family and be forced to serve them for the rest of her life. So when the opportunity presents itself to sail across the ocean to a place called Hawai’i to be married to a wealthy, young, good-looking man, she jumps on it. However when she gets there, the groom waiting for her is neither young, or rich, nor particularly nice. So now she is alone in a new country and must learn to take care of herself.

Which she does admirably well. We follow her through sixty years of her life, most of it in Honolulu, and she crosses paths with historical characters and events that paint a vivid picture of Hawai’i before it became a tourist hotspot.

I am so glad I randomly picked this book for this month’s theme (by typing in “American History” in my library’s search box and seeing what came out). It was beautifully written, and such an interesting story! Some stories like this, that mix fact and fiction, often end up feeling forced, but in this everything felt natural. In fact, if I hadn’t Googled some names and events, I probably wouldn’t have noticed half of the characters who came from history and not the author’s imagination!

I think a few of you have this one on your TBR list, and believe me, you’ll want to get to it sooner than later!

Elise wrote: "I think a few of you have this one on your TBR list, and believe me, you’ll want to get to it sooner than later!."

This is me!! You're making it sound lovely, I want to get to it soon! I should have read this for this month, haha.

I really enjoyed Brennert's Moloka'i. This one sounds good, too, so I may just have to check it out. Thanks, Elise!

And I'll have to check out Moloka'i :D

This one has been on my TBR for so long - I really have to get around to it!