Honolulu Hawaii has had a diverse population almost ever since the lava islands emerged from the seas and the population groups that have contributed to change have often come in migration waves at certain times. Alan Brennert's novel "Honolulu" details five decades in the lives of four women who came to Hawaii as "picture brides" in the early years of the nineteenth century. The author is able to weave an entertaining story about these four women, but also brings in real characters and events from Hawaii's stirring history. Central to the story is a young Korean woman called Regret whose name indicates what the family truly thought about the birth of a baby daughter. She expects Hawaii to be a tropical paradise where one only has to reach up to a tree for luscious food to eat. The bridegroom to whom she has been sold is supposedly handsome and wealthy. He is willing to pay for her boat passage and Regret thinks that in Hawaii she will finally be able to pursue the education that was denied her as a female in Korea. When she meets her new husband she finds out her errors. He is a brutal drunk who gambles away the money he makes at a menial job. The other women Regret befriended on the boat have suffered similar disappointments. Their new husbands were far older and poorer than the young women had expected. Regret has such a dangerous life with this husband that although it goes against all her cultural values she divorces him, remarries, and changes her name to Jin.

These four young women learn about the discrimination that exists in paradise as they and their families find themselves working for the white over class. The author dramatically uses the very real Massie trial, a court case in which a white woman was accused of murdering a young Hawaiian boy who had supposedly raped her daughter. This very real character was placed as a close family friend to Jin. The sad outcome illustrates the racial line divisions that existed in Hawaii at that time and describes the resentments of Hawaii's non-whites. In spite of the handicaps which they face, Jin and three other picture brides form a small financial group that acts as a bank for them. They each tap into these assets to grow their own businesses. Jin pursues her love of tailoring and eventually succeeds with her own company producing Hawaiian clothing. [4-5-09]

The Ten Year Nap The age old debate about whether a mother should work full time or remain home to care for her children goes on. Meg Wolitzer addresses the question in the novel "The Ten Year Nap" which profiles four friends who live in New York City, and have left promising careers to spend time with their young children. Amy Lamb's background is Canadian and her mother was an early feminist. Amy remembers her mother participating in conscious raising groups which gave her the encouragement so that she was able to fulfill her desire for a career by becoming a historical novelist. Therefore, her mother's expectations are high for Amy and her sisters. Amy becomes a lawyer who works on trusts and estates, meets a charming man at work, marries and has a son. Mason, her son, is now ten years old and Amy still hasn't seriously considered returning to the law office where her husband, Leo, still works. When she did interview at another firm, she realized that she had lapsed behind current office procedures.

Her best friend, Jill, who had even been her college roommate, has recently moved to the suburbs. An infertile couple, Jill and her husband had adopted a little girl from a Russian orphanage. They are just beginning to come to terms with their daughter's mental and emotional inadequacies. Jill also has the emotional baggage of her mother's suicide that occurred when Jill was away at college. Roberta and Nathaniel Sokolov are a couple that survive in the rarified financial level of New York by living in a condo apartment given to them by his parents. As long as they wish to stay in the city they must endure its cramped space. Their son is a scholarship student at the school which the other women's children attend. Nathaniel has continued as a puppeteer, performing around New York and still well into his forties, hoping for his big break. Wilson and Karen Yip are an Oriental couple who are both expert mathematicians. They actually amuse themselves counting by prime numbers

The lives of these couples have established a routine. Life seems very ordinary for all of them, while the wives have a sense that it is time to return to the real world of work, but what they do at home seems precious to them. A tragic event in the life of a woman they had all viewed as having it all forces them to reexamine their lives. [4-19-09]