MOLOKA'I by Alan Brennert
I absolutely loved this book. When I lived in Hawaii many of my room mates went to Molokai for a weekend and brought back lots of pictures of the leperosarium (leper colony) and it was really fascinating, yet I never really thought about the people themselves and what it would have been like to be in their shoes. Although the characters are fictional, the timeline and places are true and many characters are based on true events of real Hansens' Disease patients.
The story follows Rachel's life. The Board of Health discovered signs of leperosy on her when she was 6 years old. She was removed from her family and taken to the Kalihi hospital for a year to track its progression and then sent to Moloka'i. I can't imagine having my own child ripped away from me, knowing I may rarely see them, if even if I did, would never be allowed to touch them. And then the family left behind was often treated poorly because people feared that they would also get leperosy just by being around a family of a leper patient. They would often have to relocate and start anew, hiding their secret.
Rachel lived most of her life at the leperosarium, and since I don't want to spoil the whole story..........I'll stop there, but definitely reccommend. Brennert did much research to really capture this story and I love all the details. I also loved that I recognized the names of most cities, streets, history, kings, etc, because I lived there for 3 years, so I was better able to visualize it all.
The FORGOTTEN GARDEN by Kate Morton
This is a fictional story. It follows many different characters, switching back and forth from present to past. I love the diversity in all the characters.
is found abandoned on a ship to Australia.
A mysterious woman called the Authoress, a writer of dark Victorian fairytales,
had promised to look after her -
but the Authoress has disappeared without
a trace.
A terrible secret...
On the night of her twenty-first birthday, Nell O'Connor learns a secret that will change her life forever. Decades later, she embarks upon a search for the truth that leads her to the windswept Cornish coast and the strange and beautiful Blackhurst Manor, once owned by the aristocratic Mountrachet family.It is here that Nell's granddaughter, Cassandra will finally uncover the truth about the family, and solve the century-old mystery of a little girl lost.
