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“Stunning…an intricately built novel that spans decades, moving in and out of a collective voice, while also telling Hi’i’s deeply personal and devastating story of trying to find her way.” –Los Angeles Times
“A full-throated chant for Hawai'i. ... It’s impossible to come away unchanged.” —KAWAI STRONG WASHBURN, author of the PEN/Hemingway award-winning Sharks in the Times of Saviors
Set in Hilo, Hawai’i, a sweeping saga of tradition, culture, family, history, and connection that unfolds through the lives of three generations of women—a tale of mothers and daughters, dance and destiny.
“There’s no running away on an island. Soon enough, you end up where you started.”
Hi'i is proud to be a Naupaka, a family renowned for its contributions to hula and her hometown of Hilo, Hawaii, but there’s a lot she doesn’t understand. She’s never met her legendary grandmother and her mother has never revealed the identity of her father. Worse, unspoken divides within her tight-knit community have started to grow, creating fractures whose origins are somehow entangled with her own family history.
In hula, Hi'i sees a chance to live up to her name and solidify her place within her family legacy. But in order to win the next Miss Aloha Hula competition, she will have to turn her back on everything she had ever been taught, and maybe even lose the very thing she was fighting for.
Told in part in the collective voice of a community fighting for its survival Hula is a spellbinding debut that offers a rare glimpse into a forgotten kingdom that still exists in the heart of its people.
Genre: Literary Fiction
“Stunning…an intricately built novel that spans decades, moving in and out of a collective voice, while also telling Hi’i’s deeply personal and devastating story of trying to find her way.” –Los Angeles Times
“A full-throated chant for Hawai'i. ... It’s impossible to come away unchanged.” —KAWAI STRONG WASHBURN, author of the PEN/Hemingway award-winning Sharks in the Times of Saviors
Set in Hilo, Hawai’i, a sweeping saga of tradition, culture, family, history, and connection that unfolds through the lives of three generations of women—a tale of mothers and daughters, dance and destiny.
“There’s no running away on an island. Soon enough, you end up where you started.”
Hi'i is proud to be a Naupaka, a family renowned for its contributions to hula and her hometown of Hilo, Hawaii, but there’s a lot she doesn’t understand. She’s never met her legendary grandmother and her mother has never revealed the identity of her father. Worse, unspoken divides within her tight-knit community have started to grow, creating fractures whose origins are somehow entangled with her own family history.
In hula, Hi'i sees a chance to live up to her name and solidify her place within her family legacy. But in order to win the next Miss Aloha Hula competition, she will have to turn her back on everything she had ever been taught, and maybe even lose the very thing she was fighting for.
Told in part in the collective voice of a community fighting for its survival Hula is a spellbinding debut that offers a rare glimpse into a forgotten kingdom that still exists in the heart of its people.
Genre: Literary Fiction
Praise for this book
"Raw, real and richly layered, Hula is a love letter to Hawai'i, most especially Keaukaha. The words in this novel hit like a hurricane - powerful and intense and imbued with every nuance of island life, from hanabata days to the final paddle out. Brilliantly written and expertly structured, the story of the Naupaka women, and the bitter struggles of the native Hawaiian people, will stay with you long after you've turned the last page. Jasmin 'Iolani Hakes has penned a new classic in Hawaiian literature. I could not put this book down. Maika'i." - Sara Ackerman
"Majestic, powerful, mysterious, and captivating as Hawaiian mountains, Hula is a magnificent achievement, a courageous act of resistance against colonization, an epic love song for native Hawaiian people. I cannot wait for readers everywhere to celebrate Jasmin Iolani Hakes' talent." - Nguyễn Phan Quế Mai
"A full-throated chant for Hawai'i. Part coming-of-age story, part historical family epic, all love. The pages fly by amidst fluid, furious language and captivating drama. This book breathes new life into island narratives...it's impossible to come away unchanged." - Kawai Strong Washburn
"Majestic, powerful, mysterious, and captivating as Hawaiian mountains, Hula is a magnificent achievement, a courageous act of resistance against colonization, an epic love song for native Hawaiian people. I cannot wait for readers everywhere to celebrate Jasmin Iolani Hakes' talent." - Nguyễn Phan Quế Mai
"A full-throated chant for Hawai'i. Part coming-of-age story, part historical family epic, all love. The pages fly by amidst fluid, furious language and captivating drama. This book breathes new life into island narratives...it's impossible to come away unchanged." - Kawai Strong Washburn
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