As beautiful as Hawaii itself, This novel approaches epic magnitude. The narrator is Hiram Nihoa, through whom the author pours his love for Hawaii. Nihoa tells the story of his travels around the island of Oahu a century ago, evoking the scene and the people as he saw and loved them. Nihoa's narrative is taken up by a strange New Englander in the second half of the book. Saul Bristol, a sad and bitter man, reveals Hawaii through the eyes of a newcomer. The two narratives embody the conflict between the old and the new which has had so much to do with the way Hawaii has developed.... In some ways ... a lament, but overall a mele aloha, a song of love.
—Publisher's Weekly
The language is English, but the cadence, rhythm, eloquence, and emotion are Hawaiian...
—Chuck Frankel in the Honolulu Star-Bulletin
- UH Press, 1980
- Paperback, 520 pages