Ka Wai Ola - Office of Hawaiian Affairs, Volume 5, Number 4, 1 April 1988 — Book Review [ARTICLE]

Book Review

Hawaii Aloha By Keith S. Abe Topgallant Publishing Co. Ltd. Price: $12.95

There are several publications about the overthrow of the Hawaiian monarchy, most of these are historical studies. Eaeh is an attempt to make some sort of sense of what actually happened and several try to answer the legal question of the involvement of the United States.

HawanAloha is about the penod directly betore and during the overthrow. It is, however, greatly different from any other book about this period. It is a novel based upon history, but more importantly of the feeling of what had happened. Abe uses the eyes and person of a Miss Margo Kronig, a journalist from Boston to tell what might have happened. Through this young woman's encounter in Hawai'i, we are transposed into the atmosphere of the last days of the Kingdom, its intrigue, politics and emotion.

Hawaii Aloha is refreshing and light reading about a serious and tragic period of Hawaii's histōry. It is a quaint and creative way to look upon these events for those who have studied them well, and it is a gentle means to encourage those who have not yet ventured to read the history of the Kingdom of Hawai'i. Even the design of the book is pleasing to read with its wide margins and large, bold print. It is even more intriguing to wonder if the typographical errors of the Hawaiian words in Kronig's writing are intentional or not, for they add to the delight of reading how this young Bostonian woman began to understand and love the Hawaiian people. — Maleolm Naea Chun