Review: Not Much To Add
Rating: 5 out of 5
Date: 09 13, 2012
Turn of the century Hawaii. Other reviewers have done an excellent job reviewing this book so what can I add to the mix? The main theme is lepers, a tragic disease [Hansen's Disease] that afflicted Hawaii during the time period. Lepers were forceably relocated to Molokai, one of the smaller islands in the Hawaiian chain. Little was known of the disease and forced isolation was the norm. The disease is treatable today with modern medicine and Molokai is now on the tourist trail although not as popular as Oahu and the Big Island. I believe there are still some elderly individuals living on Molokai that were part of the forced evacuations. London writes about what he has seen and experienced or at least heard about from credible sources. It's a sad collection of tales, but history is history whether we like it or not. A minor theme is race-mixing, very common in Hawaii but virtually taboo in the lower 48. It was an issue during the time frame explored but not so much of an issue today; even in the lower 48. Trying to develop a family tree in Hawaii for those families that have lived there for the past hundred years or so would be a monumental task, more like a woods rather than a tree.