This is Paradise

Locations
Call Number: Fiction / Kahakauwila, Kristiana, Adult Book / Fiction / General / Kahakauwila, Kristiana
On Shelf At: Downtown Library, Westgate Branch

Location & Checkout Length	Call Number	Checkout Length	Item Status
Downtown 2nd Floor 4-week checkout	Fiction / Kahakauwila, Kristiana	4-week checkout	On Shelf
Westgate Adult Books 4-week checkout	Adult Book / Fiction / General / Kahakauwila, Kristiana	4-week checkout	On Shelf

This is paradise -- Wanle -- The road to Hana -- Thirty-nine rules for making a Hawaiian funeral into a drinking game -- The old Paniolo way -- Portrait of a Good Father.
"A visceral, poignant, and elegantly gritty work of debut fiction set in Hawaii, in the vein of Junot Diaz's Drown and Danielle Evans's Before You Suffocate Your Own Fool Self This is the real Hawai'i: life is not the paradisical adventure that honeymooners or movie-goers see. Danger lurks on beautiful beaches, violence bubbles under the smooth surf, and characters come face to face with the inevitability of change and the need to define who they are against the forces of tradition and expectation. In these stories, a young woman decides to take revenge on the man who had her father murdered - only to find that her father wasn't who she thought he was. Three different groups of Hawaiian women observe and comment on the progress of an American tourist through one day and one night in Honolulu. And a young couple have an encounter with a stray dog that shakes their relationship to the core. Intimately tied to the Hawaiian Islands, This is Paradise explores the relationships among native Hawaiians, local citizens, and emigrants from (and to) the contiguous forty-eight states. There is tension between locals and tourists, between locals and the military men that populate their communities, between local Hawaiian girls who never leave, and those who do so for higher education and then return. Kahakauwila is a careful observer of her protagonists' actions - and, sometimes, their inaction. Her portrayal of people whose lives have lost their centre of gravity is acute, often heartbreaking, and suffused with a deeply felt empathy. With a contemporary edginess, a mature style, and a sense of history reverberating into the present, This is Paradise is an incredible debut"-- Provided by publisher.

COMMUNITY REVIEWS

Short, but deep stories submitted by mgabbieb on June 9, 2023, 10:43am A collection of 6 short stories, each with their own compelling and mesmerizing characters. Even though they were short stories, I felt transported and deeply invested in each story.