OLOHANA

A historical novel focuses on King Kamehameha’s successful consolidation of the Hawaiian Islands.

John Young, bosun on the Eleanora, and Isaac Davis, a gunner’s mate, have been captured by the forces of Kamehameha, the most powerful chief on the Big Island (Hawaii, aka Moku Nui). Those forces have also seized a small sloop called the Fair American. Kamehameha recognizes and values talent: Young is to captain the Fair American and Davis is to train the chief’s warriors in the use of Western armaments. These men resist as long as they can—even plot to escape—but eventually, with no other options, they join Kamehameha’s cause, and he even elevates them to ali’i (noble) status. Kamehameha is determined to extend his rule to all of Moku Nui, then conquer the string of islands to the northwest that will become part of present-day Hawaii. This entails ferocious fighting, and Young and Davis do their part. At the book’s end, Kamehameha has conquered all but far-flung Kaua’i and Ni’ihau. O’Leary sticks very close to the actual history, including the important native characters and Kamehameha’s haole (foreign) advisers, Young and Davis. The author is an accomplished writer with a wonderful, (mostly) true tale to tell. Well drawn is the friendship between Young and Davis, strangers in a strange land who first want only to flee but finally, when Capt. Vancouver offers them passage home to England, realize that, with families now, they have become Hawaiians. Still, they never quite get over the brutality that is in ironic contrast to this Edenic archipelago. In Kamehameha’s world, one’s life is loosely held and to die in combat is reward enough. The battles are incredibly grotesque, gory affairs where “expertly wielded war clubs crush skulls, daggers disembowel, spears impale.” So readers get high drama, epic battles, and an engaging account of Hawaiian history. O’Leary provides a useful glossary of the Hawaiian words sprinkled liberally through the text, though they will still present a challenge to the audience. And because the Hawaiian characters’ names will be quite confusing to many readers, a list of them as front matter would have been helpful.

A richly entertaining tale that delivers a captivating history lesson.