Jin becomes the reader's witness to race riots, the effect of the Great Depression, and other major and minor happenings during the early decades of the 20th century. That minor criticism aside, Brennert superbly conveys the historic events and the atmosphere of Honolulu in the 1920's and 1930's. In this reviewer's opinion, the book would have been stronger without the protagonist's fictional friendships with real-life individuals. The line between fiction and non-fiction should be seamless in this genre here, it's overt. Given the fascinating life the author creates for this "common" woman, this literary affectation seems unnecessary and feels contrived and distracting. She is, for example, close friends with the prostitute who inspired Somerset Maugham's character Sadie Thompson, and with Chang Apana, the Honolulu police officer on whom the character of the fictional detective Charlie Chan is based.
Brennert realistically depicts the gradual cultural shift Jin undergoes as she becomes more Americanized over the decades, creating a three-dimensional character that grows and matures over the course of the novel.īrennert has his heroine interact with several newsworthy people who actually lived in Honolulu in the 1920's and 30's. She is so practical and adaptable that the reader can't help but root for her success.
Brennert's rich and multifaceted characterization establishes Jin as more than just a character in a book she becomes someone the reader knows and cares about. She has her biases, performs both good and questionable deeds, and experiences both joy and sorrow.
Although she does experience poverty, for the most part her fortunes are relatively middle-class. The protagonist of the novel is, in many ways, very ordinary. Fortunately, its story departs from the expected after the first five chapters or so, after which it becomes an absorbing study of Asian culture in Hawaii as seen through the eyes of a Korean woman. Brennert's writing, however, is so compelling that readers soon find they are unable to put the book down. Even after the main character reaches Hawaii, much of the plot is predictable. Readers have encountered protagonists in similar circumstances on the pages of many recent bestselling novels ( Snow Flower and the Secret Fan, Memoirs of a Geisha, the works of Amy Tan). In Honolulu, author Alan Brennert succeeds brilliantly in this goal.Īt first, the plot of Honolulu may seem overly familiar. An absorbing study of early 20th century Asian culture in Hawaii as seen through the eyes of a Korean womanĪ well-written historical novel can so mesmerize readers that they come to feel they understand what it was like to live in a past era, as if they have truly experienced the sights, smells and cultures of a time and place beyond their personal knowledge.
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