Fantastic sequel to Moloka'i! In general I find sequels as reaching to maintain traction, but this one is a great stand alone.

Thank you to Brennert for bringing us into the reality of Japanese-American interment camps; yet another disgusting act the US attempts to erase with silence. ( )

A sequel to the authors book Molokai
This tell the story of the daughter Rachael has to give up because she had leprosy. Same number of tear jerker moments in in excellent, quick, well told story. ( )

From Amazon description:
Alan Brennert’s beloved novel Moloka'i, currently has over 600,000 copies in print. This companion tale tells the story of Ruth, the daughter that Rachel Kalama―quarantined for most of her life at the isolated leprosy settlement of Kalaupapa―was forced to give up at birth.

The book follows young Ruth from her arrival at the Kapi'olani Home for Girls in Honolulu, to her adoption by a Japanese couple who raise her on a strawberry and grape farm in California, her marriage and unjust internment at Manzanar Relocation Camp during World War II―and then, after the war, to the life-altering day when she receives a letter from a woman who says she is Ruth’s birth mother, Rachel.

Daughter of Moloka'i expands upon Ruth and Rachel’s 22-year relationship, only hinted at in Moloka'i. It’s a richly emotional tale of two women―different in some ways, similar in others―who never expected to meet, much less come to love, one another. And for Ruth it is a story of discovery, the unfolding of a past she knew nothing about. Told in vivid, evocative prose that conjures up the beauty and history of both Hawaiian and Japanese cultures, it’s the powerful and poignant tale that readers of Moloka'i have been awaiting for fifteen years.

Alan Brennert books are always beautifully written literary journeys that cover heartbreaking subject matter. I devoured his Honolulu and Molokai and here, we see what happened to the baby Rachel was forced to give up because of leprosy and rules imposed in Hawaii to spread the control of the disease at the turn of the 20th century. In this sequel, we follow Rachel’s daughter Ruth from her time in an orphanage to her adoption by Japanese parents in Hawaii, through their move to California, experiences with racism and subsequent interment in camps during WW2. The story goes on for several decades after, showing lovely times and hard ones. Like everything Brennert writes, it’s slow-paced, lovely and poignant. I was thrilled to step back into this world for a little while and see what became of these beloved characters.

Please excuse typos/name misspellings. Entered on screen reader.
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More like 3.5 stars. This wasn't as good as Molokai but it was an interesting read nonetheless. The sections describing life in the interment camps were fascinating and I did find all of the characters richly described (that is a key element for me - characterization). One final note- it was an easy read so if you are looking to bring the story of Rachel (Molokai main character) to a satisfying conclusion then you will like this book. ( )