Book Review: A Hawaiian Love Story!

Since I spent a week and a half in Hawaii and was very near the Captain Cook monument, I visited several historical sites and learned about him and the history surrounding him and the Hawaiian people. This book was like an added bonus---a glorious bookend to my trip. I loved every minute of it.

A Song for the Stars by Ilima Todd is based on a true story from Ilima's ancestry, which makes it all the more interesting to me. We begin with John Harbottle's journal and how anxious he feels. He is a translator for Captain Cook, and they have been interacting with the Hawaiian natives who believe Cook is a god. The sailors leave, only to need a ship repaired and return a few days later. Unfortunately, their return signals to the Hawaiians that Captain Cook really isn't the god they thought he was. A series of events leads to a devastating battle on the beach where Captain Cook is killed. (I could see that monument and bay where he was killed near my vacation house each morning!)

Maile, the daughter of the royal chief and a witness to the battle, ends up secretly nursing John back to health. Their relationship, while rocky at first, starts to become one of understanding and friendship. I loved how the author showed their very different cultures and the curiosity John and Maile had about each other and their customs. There were so many beautifully described scenes that will make you feel like you are right there with the characters. The scenes with the whales was incredible! There is still a pod of dolphins that comes into that bay every morning, which made me think of Maile and John. I thought the author did an exceptional job of bringing in Hawaiian history so naturally and really presenting a different way of looking at people who are different than us, nature itself, and even observation in human behavior. Her research and style of writing to incorporate it was amazing! I loved how John's perspective was brought in through his journal and that Maile was so strong and yet, so vulnerable. This book is definitely going on my keeper shelf and will always remind me of my first experience in Hawaii.

You can get your copy here

Here's the back copy:

Inspired by a true story

Hawaiian Islands, 1779

As the second daughter of a royal chief, Maile will be permitted to marry for love. Her fiancé is the best navigator in Hawaii, and he taught her everything he knows how to feel the ocean, observe the winds, read the stars, and how to love.

But when sailors from a strange place called England arrive on her island, a misunderstanding ends in battle, and Maile is suddenly widowed before she is wed.

Finding herself in the middle of the battle and fearing for her life, Maile takes John Harbottle, the wounded man who killed her fiancé, prisoner, and though originally intending to let him die, she reluctantly heals him. And in the process, she discovers the man she thought was her enemy might be her ally instead.

John has been Captain James Cook's translator for three voyages across the Pacific. He is kind and clearly fascinated with her homeland and her people and Maile herself. But guilt continues to drive a wedge between them: John's guilt over the death he caused, and Maile's guilt over the truth about what triggered the deadly battle a secret she's kept hidden from everyone on the island.

When Maile is tasked with teaching John how to navigate using the stars so he can sail back to England, they must also navigate the challenges of being from very different cultures. In doing so, they might also find the peace that comes when two hearts become one.