The meeting will be held on TUESDAY, October 5th at 6:00 pm via Zoom. The book for our October meeting is Moloka'i by Alan Brennert.
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This richly imagined novel, set in Hawai'i more than a century ago, is an extraordinary epic of a little-known time and place - and a deeply moving testament to the resiliency of the human spirit.
Rachel Kalama, a spirited seven-year-old Hawaiian girl, dreams of visiting far-off lands like her father, a merchant seaman. Then one day a rose-colored mark appears on her skin, and those dreams are stolen from her. Taken from her home and family, Rachel is sent to Kalaupapa, the quarantined leprosy settlement on the island of Moloka'i. Here her life is supposed to end---but instead she discovers it is only just beginning.
With a vibrant cast of vividly realized characters, Moloka'i is the true-to-life chronicle of a people who embraced life in the face of death. Such is the warmth, humor, and compassion of this novel that "few readers will remain unchanged by Rachel's story"
The book is available from the Gig Harbor branch of Pierce County Public Library. You can get a copy in one of several ways:
1. Call and identify yourself as a Gig Harbor Literary Society member and the staff will put a copy aside for you.
2. Request through the library website.
3. Request an electronic version through the Libby app on your device. (If you don't know how to do this, the library staff may be able to help.)
To pique your curiosity and offer some perspective on place, time and events, here are some potentially useful resources:
1. About Kalaupapa:
https://www.theatlantic.com/health/archive/2015/05/when-the-last-patient-dies/394163/
https://www.history.com/news/leprosy-colonies-us-quarantine
https://scholarspace.manoa.hawaii.edu/bitstream/10125/30311/tsunamismaui_26.pdf
https://nvinterviews.nlm.nih.gov/interviews/clips/297/
2. About Moloka'i:
https://www.smithsonianmag.com/travel/why-molokai-least-developed-hawaiis-islands-180973019/
3. About Hansen's disease:
https://web.stanford.edu/group/parasites/ParaSites2005/Leprosy/history.htm
4. About Alan Brennert:
https://www.kpbs.org/news/2012/apr/13/about-auth/
https://ccdl.claremont.edu/digital/collection/cmt/id/918
https://www.bookbrowse.com/biographies/index.cfm/author_number/992/alan-brennert
I find this a fascinating, difficult and uplifting story told with compassion and humor by Alan Brennert. We look forward to hearing your thoughts. As always, even if you don't have a chance to read or listen to the book, join us.
We will continue to meet via Zoom until the Library is able to restore programming in the branches.
Pour yourself a glass of wine, a beer or a cup of tea and join in the fun.
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This event is FREE and open to the public. For questions, please contact Cindy Hackett at cynthia.hale.hackett@gmail.com