Honolulu by Alan Brennert is a wonderful glimpse into the life of a Korean "picture bride" around 1914-15 as she travels to Hawai'i to wed an ex-pat Korean man. Having read Brennert's Moloka'i last year, I was pleased to receive this book as an ARC from the Amazon Vine program. While it's not quite as intensely gripping as Moloka'i, it is still a fascinating look at a life I cannot imagine having lived. The truth is, it wasn't all that long ago that women were treated as nothing more than servants and chattel in their own homes, traded to the highest bidder to continue a life of servitude. Regret (later known as Jin) decides that this isn't going to be her life, and she accepts an offer of marriage to a man who, it turns out, is less than honest about himself and his circumstances. How Jin bounces back and continues in her quest to better herself brings us a story well-told through Jin's point of view.
My full review can be found at http://www.amazon.com/review/R21LHPP7332WXY/ref=cm_cr_rdp_perm. I enjoyed this one a great deal, but didn't find myself as caught up as I'd hoped toward the ending. Overall, though, I can still recommend it.
~taminator40
1 comment:
This one sounds good. I'm off to read your review.
Post a Comment