*TUDOR^QUEEN* 's Reviews > Moloka'i

St. Martin's Press recently offered me the book "Daughter of Moloka'i" for review, which I accepted. However, when I read its synopsis, it hearkened back to its preceding tome, "Moloka'i", which was a huge bestseller originally published in 2003. As of this writing, the original book is on sale for kindle at $2.99 on amazon, so I decided to purchase it and read it prior to reading its sequel. I expected this to be a quality book because of its rave reviews, and I wasn't disappointed. I don't usually gravitate towards books that take place in island settings, but the richness of the story enveloped me regardless.

This story is about a little girl named Rachel Kalama who lived in Honolulu in the late 1800s. She was just seven years old, the favorite daughter of her father Henry. Henry was a sailor who would go on expeditions lasting for months, and would always bring Rachel back a special doll to add to her collection.

Rachel's idyllic life takes a violent turn when the Health Inspector who visits schools discovers that Rachel has leprosy. During this time, anyone found to have contracted leprosy is removed from the island and thus their family. They are taken to a special settlement on another Hawaiian island designated for leprosy patients. Franciscan nuns run a home for the children where they are lovingly cared for. Often times, a person would live the rest of their life at this settlement. There is a church, general store, and rations of food meted out to the settlement's occupants. People are provided homes to live in. The nuns clean wounds and change bandages, but there are also doctors on the settlement who try valiantly to come up with treatments to stave off the advancement of leprosy. At first glance, one could be startled and even horrified to witness some of the facial deformities, but after living amongst these people for awhile, they just became people you were comfortable being around...the new normal. There were varied forms and intensities of this disease; for some people their sores were hidden in discreet places like on a thigh or an ankle; in others, their faces and digits on their hands and feet would be ravaged by the disease. One physician had a theory he explored of surgically removing any sores that would appear. However, it would take decades before a sulfa-based antibiotic was produced that halted the disease in its tracks, much like the "cocktail" of meds AIDS patients take today that return their lives to a modicum of normalcy.

The story of Rachel is an epic one; it follows her from her childhood home and school to her abrupt and frightening transfer to the leprosy colony at Kalawao, and the many milestones her life advances through until her death. It is a story of love, strength, bravery and family. I never knew the nuts and bolts of the medical history of leprosy, and this made for a very interesting / educational topic throughout the story. I am very glad I read this as a precursor to reading the upcoming "Daughter of Moloka'i". Often times you can read a follow-up book as a standalone, but having read the original story "Moloka'i" I will approach the next installment with even more anticipation.