Ask the Author: Alan Brennert
Answered Questions (13)
Alan Brennert
I've been doing some research into the paniolos but so far haven't found anything dramatic enough to sustain a novel. Mahalo for the suggestion though.
Alan Brennert
I'm currently reading, looking for an appropriate historical incident that might make for a good novel, and at your suggestion I'll take a closer look at Kauai. Mahalo!
Alan Brennert
I just had successful surgery to resolve a vision problem, so now that I can read again I've started dipping into into my Hawaiian history books looking for inspiration. In the meantime I do have a short story coming out in 2024 in the anthology HONOLULU NOIR edited by Chris McKinney.
Alan Brennert
You're right, it is a love story, a love letter to a place that was a large part of my childhood as well as thousands of other people who grew up in New Jersey and New York in the past century. It's also a love letter to the people who made the park what it was--the concession owners, the staff, and the performers. I had the chance to speak with many of them and that carny lifestyle fascinated me; few have written about it. It was a story that I thought should be told, to preserve the memory of the park and its people.
Alan Brennert
Actually, Candy, Hawai'i became an American territory on April 30, 1900, and from that point on anyone born in the Territory of Hawai'i was automatically an American citizen. It became a state on August 21, 1959.
Alan Brennert
I wouldn't hold my breath, Mike. Hollywood has shown absolutely no interest in any of my historical novels (a few of my fantasy novels have been optioned and developed, though not produced). A few years ago I wrote a "spec" pilot for a ten-hour miniseries based on MOLOKA'I, and I couldn't even get a Hollywood agent to represent it -- they were all horrified by the idea of trying to sell a script about leprosy. Enjoy the books, they're all you're likely to see. And thank you for the kind words.
Alan Brennert
I enjoyed Yangsze Choo's THE NIGHT TIGER, Sarah Bird's DAUGHTER OF A DAUGHTER OF A QUEEN, and waiting TBR is THE THREE-YEAR SWIM CLUB by Julie Checkoway.
Alan Brennert
There are, as you suggest, multiple themes in both books, but the one theme common to both is the fear of that which you don't understand. In MOLOKA'I the fear was of leprosy and those who had the disease; the reaction to that fear was isolation at Kalaupapa. In DAUGHTER OF MOLOKA'I the fear is of the Japanese and Japanese-Americans, which led to their internment during World War II. Both groups were dehumanized and demonized; I tried to show how both were made up of people just like everyone else. It's a theme that's sadly relevant today, I'm afraid. Thanks for your question!
Alan Brennert
That wasn't intentional, Kendra, I just tried to mention, for new readers, the people most essential for understanding Rachel's past. Leilani was also not mentioned, and probably a few others; sorry if you missed them.
Alan Brennert
I visited Kalaupapa as part of the official tour, which is very closely escorted and is designed, rightly, to protect the privacy of the residents; I met one or two people in passing, but there was no opportunity for a long exchange. Later I contacted the authorities at Kalaupapa about returning for a visit on my own, but I was told that any visitor outside the tour had to have a sponsor who could escort him/her, and they didn't have anyone to sponsor me. So I had to make do with what was in the public record. This turned out to be quite a lot: aside from fine biographies like Mel White's MARGARET OF MOLOKAI and Olivia Breitha's OLIVIA: MY LIFE OF EXILE IN KALAUPAPA, I read dozens of oral histories of patients as well as every file about the settlement in the Hawai'i State Archives. The latter went all the way back to 1866, and included letters sent by some of the very first exiles sent to (at that time) Kalawao. The archives held letters, journals, logs of incoming patients--a staggering amount of information that in toto presented a vivid picture of the history of the settlement. What I found in my research did inevitably change the story from my original conception, but always for the better; if a fact or incident surprised me, I figured it would surprise readers too, and I wove it into the story. But my biggest takeaway from the research were the people themselves, some of whom, like Ambrose Hutchison, became characters in the story...and some inspired fictional characters (there is more than a little of the amazing Margaret Kapuni in my protagonist Rachel). And even though I didn't get that personal visit to Kalaupapa, I'm moved and humbled to be told that today, in the Kalaupapa museum and gift shop, there's a big stack of MOLOKA'I for sale...the best kind of validation I can imagine.
Alan Brennert
When I decided to introduce the character of Leilani--and this was a case of literary reverse-engineering, where I discovered the medical science before the historical context--I researched Hawaiian attitudes toward homosexuals (mahus) at that time and was pleasantly surprised to find that since before contact with the West there had been no homophobia in Hawaiian culture. Mahus were a common and accepted part of Hawaiian society, sometimes even dressing as women and even occasionally filling the role of a "second wife" in a marriage along with a man and a woman. (Yikes!) Leilani does experience homophobia in the story, but never from a Native Hawaiian. It was another example of the Hawaiian people's innate sense of tolerance toward all people, and I really shouldn't have been surprised.
Alan Brennert
I tend to be fairly obsessive when it comes to historical accuracy--to the extent of combing through old city directories to find actual business names and addresses to populate a street or neighborhood, rather than just making something up--and my process includes reading through voluminous numbers of oral histories, files at the state archives, and old newspaper articles on microfilm. (I found several historical incidents buried in the latter, for both MOLOKA'I and HONOLULU, that were never mentioned in any book I read on the respective subjects.) I've found I don't have to sacrifice historical accuracy for the sake of plot or drama. When I can't find enough information about a real-life person I'm including in the story--as in the case of Sister Vincent, an actual Franciscan nun who suffered a nervous breakdown and had to leave Kalaupapa--I choose to create a fictional character inspired by the real-life person, in this case, Sister Victor. Better to create a new character than to attribute an invented background to a historical figure; I find the latter to be a bit dodgy and dishonest.
Alan Brennert
No family connection, but I fell in love with Hawai'i on my first visit in 1980 and developed a passionate interest in its history, its people, its culture and mythology. I've spent considerable time on O'ahu doing research at the State Archives, the Public Library, the Bishop Museum, et al, and have also made several trips to Moloka'i, a lovely island that's unique even for Hawai'i. And yes, I do have another novel I'm researching that will be set (at least partially) in the islands. Thanks for the question.
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