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Honolulu
- Narrated by: Ali Ahn
- Length: 15 hrs and 27 mins
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Publisher's summary
Set in the 1920s and 1930s, Honolulu explores the stark contrast between the image of the glamorous Hawaiian paradise portrayed to the mainland and the harsh reality of life on the island. With characters as vivid and richly descriptive as the history of Hawaii itself, this novel is sure to enthrall listeners.
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On any particular day, thousands upon thousands of people pass through New York City's Grand Central Terminal, through the whispering gallery, beneath the ceiling of stars, and past the information booth and its beckoning four-faced clock, to whatever destination is calling them. It is a place where people come to say hello and good-bye. And each person has a story to tell.
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Grand Central: Memories
- By ZacharyKindle Customer on 05-03-17
By: Melanie Benjamin, and others
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GI Brides
- The Wartime Girls Who Crossed the Atlantic for Love
- By: Duncan Barrett, Nuala Calvi
- Narrated by: Tania Rodrigues
- Length: 11 hrs and 6 mins
- Unabridged
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The "friendly invasion" of Britain by over a million American G.I.s bewitched a generation of young women deprived of male company during the Second World War. With their exotic accents, smart uniforms, and aura of Hollywood glamour, the G.I.s easily conquered their hearts, leaving British boys fighting abroad green with envy. But for girls like Sylvia, Margaret, Gwendolyn, and even the skeptical Rae, American soldiers offered something even more tantalizing than chocolate, chewing gum, and nylon stockings: An escape route from Blitz-ravaged Britain.
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Wonderful true stories of very brave women
- By Cindy on 05-12-15
By: Duncan Barrett, and others
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The Patriots
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- By: Sana Krasikov
- Narrated by: Suzanne Toren, George Guidall
- Length: 22 hrs and 58 mins
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Florence Fein grows up in Brooklyn in the 1930s, in a family that is gaining a foothold in the middle class. At City College she becomes engaged politically with the left-leaning student groups, and eventually, in the midst of the Depression, she takes a job with a trade organization that has a position for her in Moscow. There, she falls in love with another expatriate American and has a son. Soon after, Florence is sent to a work camp and her son to an orphanage.
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Point of View of characters, past and present collide
- By Angela Adams on 01-29-19
By: Sana Krasikov
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The Postcard
- By: Leah Fleming
- Narrated by: Elaine Claxton
- Length: 13 hrs and 18 mins
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2002, Australia. When Melissa discovers a postcard addressed to 'Desmond' among her recently deceased father's effects, she is determined to discover this person's identity and his relationship to her father. She soon embarks on a journey that will take her across oceans and into the past...
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Meh
- By Summer Layne on 03-06-15
By: Leah Fleming
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The Quilter's Apprentice
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- By: Jennifer Chiaverini
- Narrated by: Christina Moore
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An engaging tale full of warmth and wisdom, The Quilter’s Apprentice is the first novel in best-selling author Jennifer Chiaverini’s Elm Creek Quilts series. Sarah McClure takes a job helping elderly Sylvia Compson prepare her family estate for sale. Sylvia, a master quilter, agrees to share the tricks of the trade with Sarah. As the two women grow close, Sylvia shares her family’s tragic past, compelling Sarah to look at her own life more closely.
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A Mixed Bag
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Saints for All Occasions
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Nora and Theresa Flynn are 21 and 17 when they leave their small village in Ireland and journey to America. Nora is the responsible sister; she's shy and serious and engaged to a man she isn't sure that she loves. Theresa is gregarious; she is thrilled by their new life in Boston and besotted with the fashionable dresses and dance halls on Dudley Street. But when Theresa ends up pregnant, Nora is forced to come up with a plan - a decision with repercussions they are both far too young to understand.
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The narration ruined it
- By Janis Reynolds on 06-12-17
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Destiny's Embrace
- By: Beverly Jenkins
- Narrated by: Shari Peele
- Length: 8 hrs and 43 mins
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Set in 19th-century California, Destiny’s Embrace introduces listeners to ranch owner Logan Yates, who must come to terms with his true feelings for Mariah Cooper, his beautiful, headstrong housekeeper. But just as Logan decides to make Mariah his own, her former lover reenters her life. Now Logan will have to show Mariah that the passion they share has been written in the stars.
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Good Story. Okay narration.
- By CourtneyE on 07-17-13
By: Beverly Jenkins
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The Women in the Castle
- By: Jessica Shattuck
- Narrated by: Cassandra Campbell
- Length: 12 hrs and 38 mins
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Set at the end of World War II, in a crumbling Bavarian castle that once played host to all of German high society, a powerful and propulsive story of three widows whose lives and fates become intertwined - an affecting, shocking, and ultimately redemptive novel from the author of the New York Times notable book The Hazards of Good Breeding.
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Skating On The Thin Ice Of Life
- By Sara on 04-29-17
By: Jessica Shattuck
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I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings
- By: Maya Angelou
- Narrated by: Maya Angelou
- Length: 10 hrs and 11 mins
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Sent by their mother to live with their devout, self-sufficient grandmother in a small Southern town, Maya and her brother, Bailey, endure the ache of abandonment and the prejudice of the local “powhitetrash.” At eight years old, Maya is attacked by a man many times her age - and has to live with the consequences for a lifetime. But years later, she learns about love for herself and the kindness of others, her own strong spirit, and the ideas of great authors.
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Emotional & Powerful
- By Miss Toni on 06-30-13
By: Maya Angelou
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Before We Visit the Goddess
- By: Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni
- Narrated by: Sneha Mathan, Priya Ayyar, Vikas Adam
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The daughter of a poor baker in rural Bengal, India, Sabitri yearns to get an education, but her family's situation means college is an impossible dream. Then an influential woman from Kolkata takes Sabitri under her wing, but her generosity soon proves dangerous after the girl makes a single unforgivable misstep. Years later, Sabitri's own daughter, Bela, haunted by her mother's choices, flees abroad with her political refugee lover - but the America she finds is vastly different from the country she'd imagined.
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Absolutely Worth a Credit
- By Texastanya on 08-27-16
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What listeners say about Honolulu
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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- Brittny Hansen
- 01-16-16
Fantastic Vacation Read
I purchased this book in preparation for a trip to Hawaii with my husband. It was perfect to get me in the mood for our trip as well as a great beach read. It was very interesting to get a taste of the history of the island of Oahu before visiting and definitely helped me to see the island and its people in a different light. I think the book was well researched and really gave me a view into a completely different world than my own. I would highly recommend it.
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2 people found this helpful
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- Ellen
- 02-26-15
Very disappointing
Is there anything you would change about this book?
This could have been a great book but the main character was like a stick figure, going through life with almost no personality. There was nothing emotionally at stake for her and nothing that happened seemed to have any impact that we could really feel.
Would you ever listen to anything by Alan Brennert again?
Probably not since I get the sense that his other books are like this one.
If this book were a movie would you go see it?
Only if the adaptation gives it more depth.
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1 person found this helpful
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- RueRue
- 11-04-19
Korea to Hawaii
I really enjoyed this immersive historical story of a young Korean woman finding a life for herself in Hawaii. There is a lot of interesting detail about Korean culture, as well as some history of Honolulu in the 1920's-1930's. There are some great characters, too, some funny (Jade Moon and Maisie) and some poignant ( Little Sister ). If you like the books by Lisa See, this has a similar feel, although more history and less character-driven. I don't agree with the negative comments about the narrator, I thought she was excellent.
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- S. schaefer
- 02-03-21
absolutely loved!
I love all of Alan's books, he's such a way of drawing you in from the very beginning and keeping attention throughout. The story truly spoke to me, and educated me about the struggles in Hawaii and Japan. highly recommend!
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- Oregon Mom
- 02-27-24
In depth look at an immigrant to Hawaii
Slow start but what a story. I loved how it wove pieces of Hawaiian culture that has evolved to current day.
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- Jenn F. Garcia
- 04-13-13
Such a beautiful story!
I have to say this is the best book I've read this year and the second best book I've ever read.
I love historicals with rich views on other countries and cultures. I also love books about family. But this book was so much more. This was a book about a strong woman, who despite every single obstacle she was faced with, rose above. And it's important to know that not only did she continue but she accomplished so much more than anyone could have ever imagined. Her road was difficult and filled with so many twists and turns, rights and wrongs, and happy and sad moments.
The author had a wide group of side characters that quickly became very important. He brought them all alive and gave them strong roles in the story. He was able to bring out so much emotion in me that I hadn't sobbed or laughed this much since I read The Shoemaker's Wife by Adrianna Trigiani.
Not only did the author succeed in throwing us into the lives of these characters, but he took us on a tour of Korea and Oahu. His descriptions were vivid and amazing and made me feel that I was there seeing it with my own eyes.
This is one of those books that will "stick" with me forever and I recommend this for anyone that wants to be a part of a rich vivid tale of a strong woman.
The audio performance was okay ... pronunciations were not the best and that is important in audio books but the story was so good it was almost forgivable.
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6 people found this helpful
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Overall
- Wallen
- 04-20-11
A good read
I liked this book, which tells the story of a group of immigrants to the US (Hawaii) and how they are frowned upon by so called better people (ordinary Americans and other immigrants). How they fight for their lives and how they survive and finally suceed (in a way) by sheer perseverance and doggedly hard work is a very good story, not lacking in suspense. Well told and well worth listening to.
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5 people found this helpful
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Overall
- Diana
- 03-22-11
Interesting
Glad I got this one. It was very interesting about the history of the introduction of Asian people into the fabric of the Hawaiian culture.
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3 people found this helpful
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- matthew
- 10-17-13
America through an immigrants eyes
Although I liked Molokai better than this book;Honolulu wasn't bad either. This is really historical fiction, since we travel back in time to Hawaii just as America wrested it from the natives. They used Japanese, Filipino, Portuguese and, as is the star of our story, Koreans to cut the sugarcane fields at the time.Our heroine is a young Korean picture bride who is at first thrust into this shocking poor life. Suddenly married to a cane cutter who drinks, gambles and beats her. She does everything to try and make herself useful and desirable, but in the end has to flee from her abusive husband. She runs into a hooker who helps her out temporarily and they become fast friends. She sees some torn dresses in the trash one morning and recalls how it was to sew back home with her mom. The hooker finds her skill quite good and she and the others begin paying her for her work. The hooker moves to Samoa and our heroine goes on to make her own way in a pineapple factory, where she meets her future husband. They have a family and open a Korean restaurant. There are many meeting between our heroine and her friends who also came along from Korea and had varying levels of success. Her former husband comes back to attack her and she rebuffs him and he is sent to jail. Her children learn to surf and become friends with the locals, who share their culture with them. The book proceeds through the Great Depression and the Koreans all manage to stay tightly together; each pursuing their version of the American dream. Later in life the heroine begins to make Hawaiian shirts for a Chinese businessman and they are very fortunate to succeed with this endeavor. She is employed as the factory manager for the man, but finds the work unfullfiling. She start her own modest sewing operation and finds greater happiness.The narrator was really good. She changes voices which gave the characters life and even though I didn't find this story as believable as Molokai it was pretty good. There were many characters and I usually don't like that, but here it was well paced and easy to follow and lots of threads were drawn to connect the costars with the heroine. I hope Mr. Brennert comes out with other books about the islands.
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- R. Child
- 05-10-23
Fantastic Read
I absolutely loved Moloka'i and was excited to pick this up. Brennert did it again with Honolulu. Fantastic read and again learned more about a part of history I was unfamiliar with. Loved the story and loved the performance!
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