Moloka'i is novel about a Hawaiian woman who contracts leprosy in the later half of the 19th century, and is sent to a leper colony, Kalaupapa, on the Hawaiian Island of Moloka'i. The book follows her life struggles from the age of 5 to her death. Many sad things happen to her: she is separated from her family, all the people around her die of leprosy, she has a child but must give it up for adoption, and she must stay in the leper colony her whole life. Good things happen along the way too, however: she makes lots of good friends, she marries, and is eventually cured of leprosy (sorry to ruin the ending). The lesson I learned from the book was to look for the blessings in your life. The entire book, Rachel, the main character, wants nothing more to get off the Island Moloka'i, and go back to normal life. In the end of the book she is cured of leprosy and goes back to Honolulu, only to find that the leper colony and the people there really have become her home and family.
It's just an average sized novel (about 300 pages), but it just dragged on and on. It took me about a month to get through it. I somewhat enjoyed reading it, but I don't think I'd recommend it to anyone. It did create a strong desire in me to go to Hawaii, and I learned a lot about leprosy. Did you know that leprosy isn't actually very contagious. It is caused by bacteria, and people appear to be genetically disposed to being susceptible to the bacteria. So maybe all those leper colonies really weren't worth it. Also, there is a cure for leprosy today, but some people still have it. Check out wikipedia for more info.
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