Honolulu

Facing a bleak future in her native Korea, Regret (yes, that's what her parents named her) travels to early-twentieth-century Hawaii as a mail-order bride. Her husband turns out to be a lout; she leaves him and becomes Jin, a successful businesswoman in the capital city. For this first-person presentation, Ali Ahn's voice is appropriately youthful and vulnerable, if not-at-all Asian-sounding. She glides over the vowel-rich Hawaiian words with ease and makes a story full of history pleasant listening. She could have done more with characterization--there are a number of opportunities for multiethnic depictions--but she carries this story of a gritty woman and her adopted city to its satisfying end. J.B.G. (c) AudioFile 2009, Portland, Maine

October 20, 2008
Brennert's mostly successful follow-up to his book club phenomenon, Moloka'i
, chronicles the lives of Asian immigrants in and around Hawaii's early 20th-century glamour days. As the tale begins, readers meet young Regret, whose name speaks volumes of her value in turn-of-the-20th-century Korea. Emboldened by her desire to be educated, Regret commits herself as a mail-order bride to a prosperous man in Hawaii, where girls are allowed to attend school. But when she arrives, she finds her new husband is a callous plantation worker with drinking and gambling problems. Soon, Regret (now known as Jin) and her fellow picture brides must discover their own ways to prosper in America and find that camaraderie and faith in themselves goes a long way. Brennert takes perhaps too much care in creating an encyclopedic portrait of Hawaii in the early 1900s, festooning the central narrative with trivia and cultural minutiae by the boatload. Luckily, Jin's story should be strong enough to pull readers through the clutter.

September 1, 2009
Emmy Award-winning screenwriter/novelist Brennert (www.alanbrennert.com) follows up his 2003 novel, "Moloka'i"also available from Recorded Books, in December 2009with this portrait of Korean picture bride Jin, who escapes her homeland to reinvent herself in early 20th-century Hawaii. The fast-paced, first-person narrative is enlivened with cultural touches (e.g., descriptions of the ethnic cuisine) and the incorporation of major historic events (e.g., the 1910 Japanese annexation of Korea). Actress/narrator Ali Ahn's ("The Fold") subtle, sensitive depiction of Jin is delightfully juxtaposed with her rather raucous voicing of Hawaiian pidgin. Her singingsnatches of popular songs of the dayis also good. Fans of the author's and of historic fiction, Hawaii, and the bildungsroman genre will enjoy. [The St. Martin's hc received a starred review, "LJ" 1/09.Ed.]David Faucheux, Louisiana Audio Information & Reading Svc., Lafayette

Copyright 2009 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.