Molokai

Author: Alan Brennart

One-sentence summary: A child with leprosy is exiled to an island where she spends a good part of her life.

B.A.D. Girls Book Rating: 8

Our favorite thing about it: We loved learning about the history and some culture points.

Our least favorite thing about it: The fact that Catherine’s story wasn’t quite finished. It was left hanging, in our opinion.

Main Topics of Discussion: Exile, Shame, Resiliency, Hope, Suicide

Our favorite quote: “Fear is good. In the right degree it prevents us from making fools of ourselves. But in the wrong measure it prevents us from fully living. Fear is our boon companion but never our master.”

Notes: We all really enjoyed this story. It was engaging and easy to read. There was a lot of good history in there – a lot of which we were completely unaware of before reading this book. Here are some points we talked about:

1. The futility/necessity of exile

2. The stigma and shunning of leprosy victims and even their families.

3. The best surprise was the hope and resiliency the colony showed and cultivated in making their new lives and families.

4. They were able to have normal lives on the island away from the stigma that was always going to be present on the big island. This was the unexpected gift of exile.

5. The faith questioning that happened through Catherine was so interesting too. Definitely issues that were present then and still now.

Memorable Meeting Moments: We had a Hawaiian-style dinner at Amberly's house. This was our first meeting at her house since her return from China. It was also Rachel’s birthday month.

What We Ate: We all ordered various biscuit sandwiches and several different tots, which we shared. We got some yummy cocktails too.