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A Novel
by Jasmin Iolani Hakes
Set in Hilo, Hawai'i, a sweeping saga of tradition, culture, family, history, and connection that unfolds through the lives of three generations of women—a brilliant blend of There, There and Sharks in the Time of Saviors that is a tale of mothers and daughters, dance and destiny.
"There's no running away on an island. Soon enough, you end up where you started."
Hi'i is proud to be a Naupaka, a family renowned for its contributions to hula and her hometown of Hilo, Hawaii, but there's a lot she doesn't understand. She's never met her legendary grandmother and her mother has never revealed the identity of her father. Worse, unspoken divides within her tight-knit community have started to grow, creating fractures whose origins are somehow entangled with her own family history.
In hula, Hi'i sees a chance to live up to her name and solidify her place within her family legacy. But in order to win the next Miss Aloha Hula competition, she will have to turn her back on everything she had ever been taught, and maybe even lose the very thing she was fighting for.
Told in part in the collective voice of a community fighting for its survival Hula is a spellbinding debut that offers a rare glimpse into a forgotten kingdom that still exists in the heart of its people.
"[An] ambitious and poignant debut…Hakes illuminates on every page." —Publishers Weekly (starred review)
"The tragic history of Hawai'i is told through the lives of several generations of women in a Native family...Although its pace can sometimes slow, lush descriptions of the natural environment and warm depictions of family events enrich the novel." —Kirkus Reviews
"A full-throated chant for Hawai'i. Part coming-of-age story, part historical family epic, all love. The pages fly by amidst fluid, furious language and captivating drama. This book breathes new life into island narratives...it's impossible to come away unchanged." —Kawai Strong Washburn, author of the PEN/Hemingway award-winning Sharks in the Times of Saviors.
"Hula is an unforgettable ode to Hawaii, its people, and the power and pain of its history. Through one family and its fearless women, Jasmin 'Iolani Hakes offers a profound examination of what it means to defy and to belong." —Qian Julie Wang, New York Times bestselling author of Beautiful Country
"Majestic, powerful, mysterious, and captivating as Hawaiian mountains, Hula is a magnificent achievement, a courageous act of resistance against colonization, an epic love song for native Hawaiian people. I cannot wait for readers everywhere to celebrate Jasmin Iolani Hakes' talent." —Nguyễn Phan Quế Mai, internationally bestselling author of The Mountains Sing and Dust Child
"Raw, real and richly layered, Hula is a love letter to Hawai'i, most especially Keaukaha. The words in this novel hit like a hurricane––powerful and intense and imbued with every nuance of island life, from hanabata days to the final paddle out. Brilliantly written and expertly structured, the story of the Naupaka women, and the bitter struggles of the native Hawaiian people, will stay with you long after you've turned the last page. Jasmin 'Iolani Hakes has penned a new classic in Hawaiian literature. I could not put this book down. Maika'i" —Sara Ackerman, bestselling author of Radar Girls and Red Sky Over Hawaii.
"Hula immerses readers in a place they won't find on any map sold to tourists, Hawaii for Hawaiians. Ferociously beautiful and beautifully ferocious, Hula is a novel soaked in the spirit of Haunani-Kay Trask." —Myriam Gurba, award-wining author of Mean and Dahlia Season
This information about Hula was first featured
in "The BookBrowse Review" - BookBrowse's membership magazine, and in our weekly "Publishing This Week" newsletter. Publication information is for the USA, and (unless stated otherwise) represents the first print edition. The reviews are necessarily limited to those that were available to us ahead of publication. If you are the publisher or author and feel that they do not properly reflect the range of media opinion now available, send us a message with the mainstream reviews that you would like to see added.
Any "Author Information" displayed below reflects the author's biography at the time this particular book was published.
Jasmin Iolani Hakes was born and raised in Hilo, Hawai'i. Her essays have appeared in the Los Angeles Times and the Sacramento Bee. She is the recipient of the Best Fiction award from the Southern California Writers Conference, a Squaw Valley LoJo Foundation Scholarship, a Writing by Writers Emerging Voices fellowship, and a Hedgebrook residency. Dance has always been central to Jasmin's life and creativity. She took her first hula class when she was four years old and danced for the esteemed Halau o Kekuhi and the Tahitian troupe Hei Tiare. She worked throughout college as a professional luau dancer. She lives in California.
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