Hula

A Novel

De: Jasmin Iolani Hakes

Narrado por: Mapuana Makia

Audiofile Magazine Earphones Award Winner • Named a Best Book of the Summer by Harper's Bazaar and ELLE

“Stunning…an intricately built novel that spans decades, moving in and out of a collective voice, while also telling Hi’i’s deeply personal and devastating story of trying to find her way.” –Los Angeles Times

“A full-throated chant for Hawai'i. . . . It’s impossible to come away unchanged.” —KAWAI STRONG WASHBURN, author of the PEN/Hemingway award-winning Sharks in the Times of Saviors

Set in Hilo, Hawai’i, a sweeping saga of tradition, culture, family, history, and connection that unfolds through the lives of three generations of women—a tale of mothers and daughters, dance and destiny.

“There’s no running away on an island. Soon enough, you end up where you started.”

Hi'i is proud to be a Naupaka, a family renowned for its contributions to hula and her hometown of Hilo, Hawaii, but there’s a lot she doesn’t understand. She’s never met her legendary grandmother and her mother has never revealed the identity of her father. Worse, unspoken divides within her tight-knit community have started to grow, creating fractures whose origins are somehow entangled with her own family history.

In hula, Hi'i sees a chance to live up to her name and solidify her place within her family legacy. But in order to win the next Miss Aloha Hula competition, she will have to turn her back on everything she had ever been taught, and maybe even lose the very thing she was fighting for.

Told in part in the collective voice of a community fighting for its survival, Hula is a spellbinding debut that offers a rare glimpse into a forgotten kingdom that still exists in the heart of its people.

Interesting

I was really into the story For the most of the book— until the end. The ending was complicated and I am not sure I understood historically and emotionally what indeed occurred. I would recommend the book because it is a historical study that as far as I know has not had a strong light shone on it. I love Hawaii and I am sorry for the injustices done to that country.

Beautiful story telling

It was a bit confusing at first whose point of view the story was being told through at points but overall not hard at all to figure out like other reviews have mentioned. I personally found the way the historical bits were weaved in to be fascinating and informative while lending to the story. It is such a shame to see how much outside influences have truly destroyed a people. The ending did feel a bit too open ended in terms of how abrupt and vague it was but it also seems like a story that has no end. As the story spans many generations with many problems bleeding in from the last generation, it would be easy to argue that the ending was left that way to show that it’s not over. Overall it was a great story and had me in tears!

Thought-full historical fiction

For those who appreciate family histories rooted to the land with their eyes looking into the stars.

Clear-eyed passionate love letter to Hawai’i

As the story unfurls across three generations of Hawaiian women, it leaves the reader agape at the injustice perpetuated against this island nation - but worst is how blood lineage requirements eats at families, communities and the idea of who belongs or not despite sharing the same passion and love for Hawaiian heritage and culture. I came away with new knowledge and a desire to learn more about Hawai’i no matter my Nordic roots. I loved how the story wove in the voices of the larger community, adding to the rich tapestry of the narrative. Above all I felt bound to the women whose fierceness and stubbornness both amused and exasperated me. It’s a great book. Very different and worthwhile.

A beautiful adventure

I loved this story. It is difficult at times to feel the pains of human life with each character, but that’s the way it is. The way the author weaves everything together is masterful.