'Honolulu' author to sign books on Oahu

She had the great misfortune to have been born a girl in the waning days of the Yi Dynasty in Korea, and so her parents named her Regret.

Forbidden from learning to read alongside her brothers, she grew ever more determined to pursue an education. When she discovered women in America were allowed to attend school, she enlisted as a picture bride and moved to Hawaii.

The reality of 1914 Hawaii wasn’t the paradise she expected, but Regret, now known as Jin, perseveres. Honolulu, the new mini-Michner style book by Moloka’i author Alan Brennert, follows Jin’s journey through the sugar plantations and into the seedier side of Honolulu, touching on historical footnotes as diverse as the trial of Hawaiians accused of raping a white woman, and the creation of the aloha shirt.

The sweeping saga is already attracting the attention Brennert’s first book, Moloka’I, which was hailed as “a dazzling historical saga” by The Washington Post. Iit told the rich, compelling story of the island’s early leper colony and the human drama that was played out there.

Brennert will be signing copies of his books today and tomorrow on Oahu:

Bookends
Friday, March 13 @ 6 PM
600 Kailua Road, #126
Kailua, HI

Barnes & Noble
Saturday, March 14 @ 1 PM
1450 Ala Moana Blvd.
Honolulu, HI