I'll be traveling to Maui next month, and always love to read fiction set in the area I'm going to in order to put myself in the mood!

Can anyone recommend some good novels set in Hawaii?

Molokai. It's the story of a young Hawaiian girl sent off to Kaulapapa because she had leprosy.

Very, very past. But, I can't help but recommend James Michener's "Hawaii". It's detailed, and hardly light. But since I first read it in 8th grade I've been in love. It's a good book!

Ditto Michener's Hawaii.

If you're looking for some really light reading, the Charlie Chan mysteries by Earl Derr Biggers are set in Hawaii of the 1920's.
The House Without A Key is the first one. The House Without a Key (the structure) is now also within the Halekulani Hotel in Waikiki.

Charlie Chan was based on a real Honolulu detective named Chang Apana.
See: http://www.charliechan.net/biggers.html

Michener's Hawaii will last the entire journey, but is a great read. Keep a pencil and paper handy to keep track of all of the characters and the ancestral lines. It is probably as factual as a novel can be and tells a great historical story of the islands, the good, bad and ugly.

One more vote for Michener's "Hawaii"!!

"Lava" by Pamela Bell gives a melancholy take on life in Hilo...

Yet another "Hawaii" vote.

I read that book laying on a beach in the South Pacific and can tell you from personal experience that reading it in such an environment added to the enjoyment of both reading the novel and of being in such a place.

Personally I most enjoyed the early parts of the book - about the creation of the islands and the migration of Polynesians from Bora Bora to Hawaii.

The novel is truly a masterpiece - however, I do have one word of warning - Michener uses virtually no direct dialogue, with almost the entire story being told in narrative. Personally I don't care too much for that approach. I think it works great in the early sections of the novel but not so well once the Europeans arrive.

Fortunately the book has such a sense of epicness about it that I find it to be a fairly minor complaint.

Definitely worth reading.

Ken

Shark Dialogues by Kianna Davenport. An excellent Hawaii read. Fiction but based on Big Island history during time of leper colony.

I don't know if the book is still available anywhere, but I would recommend "Blood and Orchids" by Norman Katkov (also the title of the inferior movie based upon the book). It deals with the "Massie" trial that shook Honolulu in 1931, involving racial tensions, the threat of martial law over a U.S. territory, murder, rape(?), class distinctions, and the workings and limitations of the judicial system.

I read the book after taking a "tour" in Honolulu by Glen Grant (who has since died, I was sorry to read) - the tour went to various sites including the old courtroom where the rape and murder trials took place, and the building where the "one hour" sentence was "served" by the convicted, having tea with the governor.

A very interesting story.

Lucky Come Hawaii and Middle Son both take place on Maui. LCH is set on the north shore near Jaws and MS is in Puunene sugar camp near the airport. Both written by Maui authors. Both short novels.

"West of Then" by Tara Bray Smith, while not a novel is modern autobiographical and a real page-turner

I also loved Michener's Hawaii. And also, Susanna Moore's Whiteness of Bones. It made me want to slide down a water tube into a sugar cane field.

"Pearl" is a great trashy novel (think Jackie Collins) that was made into a mini-series c. 1980 starring Angie Dickinson. A good read for the beach!

Also, "The Memory of Eva Ryker" one of my all-time favorite mysteries about a woman who survived the Titanic as a child and lives in Hawaii. The hero is a hunky Hawaiian detective and it has lots of local color.

Ditto to "Blood and Orchids" and "Hawaii." Though the latter is sometimes a ponderous read, it really is the classic historical novel about "The Islands."

Wow, Enzian. When I read Mom's question, I immediately thought of "Molokai" - and there was your answer. It's a great book, but long ago since I read it Glad someone else liked it.

Wow, what a great list!

I admit that I tried Michener many, many years ago and couldn't get through it. But maybe I'll pick it up again and give it another try.

And take a few of the others along just in case.

fodorites are great!

Also, look into a novel by Paul Theroux. I believe it's called Hotel Honolulu.

I didn't care for the book "Hotel Honolulu" :-<.

Another "yes" vote for Lava.

But a "no" for Hotel Honolulu (thought it was depressing and not much island-flavor).