Kiana Davenport

A mostly meh historical novel with fairly flat characters. There were some interesting aspects (POV of a Chinese immigrant, opium usage by soldiers, etc) but throughout the vast majority of the novel, I really didn't care about any of the characters. I was also a bit ticked that many civil war details were lifted directly from the Ken Burns civil war documentary series which I watched for the second time a week or so ago. Maybe it's a coincidence but I felt like I was reading a summary of the show in several places...

The prose itself was usually very good and some of the writing is gorgeous. But still not enough for me to read another by the author. Unless a friend with good taste in books specifically recommends one.… (mere)

I received a copy of this novel in exchange for my honest review. This story begins by telling you of Johnny Tom’s past before he was thrust into the center of the Civil War. We watch him struggle in his youth to merely survive, experience the loss of those he holds dear repeatedly. We also meet his daughter Era, who becomes separated from her father and is desperately searching for any information on him whereabouts and whether he’s dead or alive. In her quest for knowledge, she finds love and experiences emotional turmoil as she has to decide which side she’s on and if she ever be reunited with her father. Kiana Davenport have woven a fantastic tale, complex yet complete. It puts you on an emotional rollercoaster and you will fall in love with the richness of these characters.… (mere)

Davenport se basa en las extraordinarias historias de su pueblo para crear una narración atemporal, apasionada, sobre el amor, la supervivencia, la tragedia, el triunfo y la trascendencia vital. Con una prosa cautivadora y un estilo sensual, La canción del exilio sigue la suerte de la familia Meahuna y la odisea de un hombre que busca a su alma gemela, a quien la guerra arrancó de su lado.
Ubicada en un complejo y exótico Hawái, en los duros años de la Segunda Guerra Mundial, esta historia fascinante presenta un imaginativo elenco de personajes que se elevarán, magnífica y contundentemente, por encima de sus circunstancias, redimidos por el poder espiritual del paisaje que los rodea y la impresionante belleza de sus islas.… (mere)

This book was well-written, with a gripping plot, about the plight of two Hawaiian lovers before, during, and after WWII. The prose is almost lyrical. The boyfriend is a musical genius who made his name on the island playing jazz. He was so good he got the chance to play in New Orleans, and the Paris. Love story with music as background -- this is my type of book! I would have LOVED this novel if it had a good ending. But it had a ending that made me felt disappointed and full of questions. According to the author's interview, what the author really wanted to write about is the plight of comfort women, so after the girlfriend suffered in WWII as a comfort women, the author devoted most of her creative genius on the girlfriend's suffering and trauma, and the author never reunited the lovers. I would have preferred the storyline to just have the girlfriend die in the camps, and write about the trauma of somebody else (the girlfriend's camp mate?) in the latter part of the book, because I have trouble seeing the girlfriend not reuniting with the boyfriend as a plausible turn of events.… (mere)