Review by Booklist Review
Lives reconverge under pressure in 1935, in Hilo, Hawaii. Koji, a once legendary sugar-cane cutter who came to the Big Island from Japan as a boy in 1895, is mourning Mariko, the love of his life. Also grieving is Mariko's closest friend, clever and tireless Nori, whose fish market is the de facto community center for the town's Japanese immigrant community. Mariko's son, Daniel, has been gone for years, studying medicine in Chicago and securing a prestigious appointment rare for an "Oriental," only to return home in despair. Daniel's high school sweetheart, whom he left behind, has also sought refuge in Hilo, after suffering violence in Honolulu. Now everyone faces impending disaster as the enormous volcano, Mauna Loa, reawakens and demonstrates its explosive power. Writing with supple and entrancing grace, Tsukiyama (A Hundred Flowers, 2012) has each of her charismatic, caring characters share their memories and heartaches, reaching back several decades in sections titled "Ghost Voices." Tsukiyama also evokes the wild, opulent beauty of the island, the harsh lives of migrant workers, racist and domestic violence, mystical connections, the repercussions of a love triangle, and the tolls of age. As the volcano erupts, long-buried secrets and guilt surge to seismic effect. Tsukiyama's dramatic yet discerningly congenial novel confronts the precariousness of existence and celebrates the healing power of generosity and love.
From Booklist, Copyright (c) American Library Association. Used with permission.
Review by Publisher's Weekly Review
The 1935 eruption of Hawaii's Mauna Loa volcano forms a suspenseful backdrop for Tsukiyama's engrossing novel (after A Hundred Flowers). The day the eruption begins, Daniel Abe returns to Hilo, where he was raised among the close-knit Japanese American community clustered around a brutal sugarcane plantation. Having overcome the prejudice against "Orientals," Daniel studied and practiced medicine in Chicago for 10 years before his guilt over fatally misdiagnosing a four-year-old patient drives him to return home. His mother, Mariko, died two years ago of cancer, and while living in her bungalow Daniel reconnects with Hilo's residents, including Koji, who drives the plantation's freight train and whose love helped sustain Mariko and Daniel after they were abandoned by Daniel's father; Mama Natua, a matriarch sliding into senility; and Daniel's former girlfriend, Maile, who has returned to Hilo with shame of her own. As the lava flow creeps toward Hilo, the characters cope with their own and others' secrets. Tsukiyama demonstrates a range of descriptive powers, depicting the island's beauty and the oppressive plantation with equal skill. The story's rich interconnections are captured through multiple third-person viewpoints and brief sections that revisit the past. Tsukiyama's rich and beautifully written exploration of the uncertainty of life and the power of community has timeless appeal. Agent: Joy Harris, Joy Harris Agency. (July)
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Review by Library Journal Review
Chicago-based doctor Daniel Abe is returning to Hawaii, where his uncle Koji eagerly anticipates revealing the truth about Daniel's father and his mother, Mariko, Koji's secret love. But Daniel's return coincides with the 1935 eruption of the Mauna Loa volcano. From New York Times best-selling Tsukiyama; with a 100,000-copy first printing.
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Review by Kirkus Book Review
In 1930s Hawaii, a tightknit community grows even closer in the weeks after the eruption of a nearby volcano threatens their town and brings up old secrets. Tsukiyama delivers the reader to the lush landscape of Hawaii on the day in 1935 when a prodigal son's return coincides with the eruption of Mauna Loa, a true event. Daniel Abe is a successful doctor in Chicago, but two years after his mother Mariko's death, a secret drives him home to Hilo, Hawaii. As he arrives, the volcano erupts. In the weeks it takes for the lava to flow toward the town, Daniel's childhood community comes together as they always have. With interludes of "ghost voices" and "island voices," the book reveals characters and events from decades prior, deepening the richness of the community. Told in close third person from various perspectives, the narrative draws the reader into the family ties and abundant landscape of Hilo. Tsukiyama writes her characters into the fabric of a time and place where the sugar cane industry was king; people from all over the world are recruited as workers only to be exploited by the plantation owners, and attempts at unionization are violently extinguished. In Hilo, "a chorus of Portuguese, Chinese, Tagalog, and Japanese languages all melded into one indistinguishable song," but people were kept "separated by ethnic groups, just as the owners planned." Yet the mosaic of characters creates a family: "Not born to be, yeah…but chosen to be." Through tragedy and joy, Tsukiyama crafts characters whose reliance on each other is their greatest strength, with many strong women leading the way. The dialogue flows easily, and the landscape is rendered with such vibrance that the reader will become fully immersed in the sensory details. Well-paced and lush, this is a captivating historical novel that shows the power of love and human resilience. Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
