Book Group: ‘Molokai’ by Alan Brennert
One of my favorite books to introduce to book groups, especially in my context as a Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) elder is the historical novel “Molokai” by Alan Brennert.
The reason it’s so compelling to me is that it covers a vast array of reader perspectives and interests: Native Hawaiian history, politicization of healthcare and health needs, healthcare public policy, HIV/AIDS, parenthood, adoptive relationships, elder care, Christian missionary history, Church history, colonization, among other things. You can even tie it to what’s happening in the news today.
I have attached three book group discussion guides below. One is for a faith context. The other is secular. And the third is for an LGBTQ book group and HIV/AIDS-focused study.
Just a warning: They have book spoilers. Do not read on if you’re interested in reading the book without these tip-offs.
Book Group Questions for Faith Context
Faith amid suffering: Rachel undergoes devastating loss at a very tender age when she is separated from her family and exiled to Kalaupapa. As you reflect on your own seasons of grief or trials, where did you see God’s presence, and how did Rachel’s story speak to your own journey of endurance?
The meaning of family: When biological ties are abruptly cut, Rachel and the other residents form a chosen family that cares for one another through life and death. How does this reflection of communal love align with our call as members of the Church to care for the vulnerable and welcome the outsider?
Sacrificial love and Christian service: Figures such as Father Damien and Sister Marianne Cope gave up freedom and comfort to minister to people cast aside by society. What does genuine, selfless service look like in our later years, when our energy or physical strength might look different than it once did?
Biblical leprosy versus historical reality: Scripture often portrays leprosy as a sign of ritual uncleanness, isolation, and social taboo. How did reading about the human side of Hansen's disease in Hawaii challenge or deepen your understanding of how Christ interacted with the marginalized in the Gospel?
A mother's devotion: Rachel’s birth mother, Dorothy, makes agonizing choices to protect her child, and later Rachel must give up her own daughter, Ruth. How did you respond emotionally to these portrayals of motherhood, separation, and unconditional love?
The Sacraments and rituals of grace: In times of illness and impending death, both Hawaiian cultural rituals and Christian rites provide comfort to the people of Moloka'i. How do our own Sacraments—such as the Lord's Supper—ground you in the assurance of God’s grace during seasons of frailty or decline?
Aging, change, and resilience: Rachel lives through sweeping transitions, including the arrival of sulfone drugs, World War II, and Hawaii’s journey toward statehood. Looking back at the historical changes you have witnessed in your own lifetime, what internal anchors helped you navigate shifting eras?
Overcoming prejudice and stigma: Even after patients are no longer contagious, society fears and rejects them when they leave the settlement. Where do you see similar fear-based stigmas today, and how can our local church reach out to those who feel unseen or unwelcome?
Forgiveness and reconciliation: Rachel’s eventual reunion with Ruth is layered with unresolved pain, unanswered questions, and grace. What does their journey show us about the courage required to forgive, heal family rifts, and let go of past bitterness?
The integration of faith and culture: Rachel embraces both the Hawaiian spiritual heritage of her father and the Christian faith nurtured in Kalaupapa. How do you view the relationship between preserving our unique heritage and walking in our Christian faith?
Grieving outliving loved ones: Rachel endures the heartbreak of outliving her husband Kenji, her closest friends, and mentors. For those of us who have walked alongside friends or partners to the end of their earthly lives, what helps you bear that grief while remaining open to joy?
Finding joy and beauty in simple things: Despite relentless hardship, the community at Kalaupapa cultivates music, theater, gardening, and deep laughter. What everyday practices or quiet moments bring you the deepest sense of gratitude and peace today?
Book Group Questions for a Secular Context
Resilience and endurance: When Rachel arrives at Kalaupapa, her life is completely dismantled, yet she finds ways to adapt, grow, and build a meaningful existence. Looking back over your own life, what personal qualities or inner resources helped you survive seasons of deep upheaval or loss?
Chosen family and community: Cut off from their biological relatives, the residents of Moloka'i create vibrant support networks, caring for one another through illness, grief, and joy. How have friendships and chosen communities shaped your adult life compared to the family you were born into?
Mothers, daughters, and sacrifice: Rachel is separated from her mother, Dorothy, as a child, and later must surrender her own daughter, Ruth, to give her a chance at a normal life. How did you react to the painful trade-offs these women had to make in the name of love and protection?
Living with physical vulnerability and aging: The book offers an unvarnished look at physical decline, illness, and bodily change, yet the characters continue to create beauty, humor, and romance. How did their experience resonate with your own perspectives on growing older and adjusting to physical changes?
Historical prejudice and fear: The public terror surrounding Hansen's disease led to extreme isolation, forced exile, and lasting stigma, even after effective medical treatments arrived. What parallels do you see in how society treats people facing chronic illness, disability, or social isolation today?
Witnessing historical shifts: Rachel lives through monumental changes, from the overthrow of the Hawaiian Kingdom and the arrival of modern antibiotics to World War II and statehood. What major historical or cultural transitions in your own lifetime felt most transformative to live through?
The courage to reconnect: Rachel’s reunion with Ruth later in life is complicated by years of silence, differing memories, and emotional guardrails. What does their dynamic reveal about the patience and courage required to mend old family fractures or misunderstandings?
Grief and outliving loved ones: Rachel endures the heartbreak of outliving partners, close friends, and peers throughout her long life. For those who have experienced deep bereavement, what practices or mindsets have helped you navigate grief while still remaining engaged with the world?
Cultural identity and belonging: Throughout her exile, Rachel clings to Hawaiian traditions, language, surfing, and stories passed down from her father. What cultural traditions, family rituals, or ancestral roots have you worked hardest to hold onto over the decades?
Everyday joy in difficult circumstances: Despite the colony's grim realities, the residents put on theatrical plays, share music, garden, and enjoy picnics. What simple, everyday rituals or small pleasures bring you the greatest comfort and vitality today?
Autonomy and self-determination: For decades, residents had virtually no control over their movements, medical treatment, or life decisions. How did characters like Rachel assert their dignity and agency in an environment designed to strip them of both?
Leaving a legacy: By the end of her journey, Rachel reflects on what her long life added up to beyond her diagnosis. As you consider your own story, how do you define a life well lived, and what kind of legacy matters most to you?
Book Group Questions from an LGBTQ Perspective
Epidemics and moral panic: When Hansen's disease struck Hawaii, the government and media responded with severe quarantine, forced isolation, and public panic rooted in moral judgment rather than clear science. How does the public hysteria and blame aimed at the people sent to Moloka'i mirror the early years of the HIV epidemic, particularly the demonization and scapegoating of gay men and other vulnerable populations?
The necessity of chosen family: Cut off from their birth families and shunned by former friends, the residents of Kalaupapa had to build their own alternative kinship networks to survive, nurse each other, and bury their dead. How does the community Rachel finds on Moloka'i echo the concept and reality of chosen family that became vital to the LGBTQ community during the height of the AIDS crisis?
Bodily visibility and physical marking: In Brennert's novel, a single lesion or bodily mark on the skin was enough to strip a person of civil liberties, career, and family. How did this dynamic of visible illness compare to the physical manifestations of Kaposi's sarcoma during the 1980s and 1990s, where visible symptoms often triggered immediate social ostracization, eviction, or loss of work?
Caregiving from within the margins: While official society largely abandoned Kalaupapa to its fate, the patients themselves—alongside a handful of dedicated allies and nurses—stepped up to provide hospice care and daily survival support. In what ways does this reflect how LGBTQ people, especially lesbian and feminist caretakers, organized their own frontline support groups, buddy networks, and home-care systems when mainstream institutions failed to act?
Exile and institutional abandonment: The policy of exiling people to an isolated peninsula out of sight and out of mind was a deliberate government choice to hide sickness. How does this spatial exile compare to the institutional neglect, silence from political leaders, and deliberate looking away that characterized the first decade of the HIV crisis in the United States and abroad?
Medical breakthroughs and surviving the storm: The arrival of sulfone drugs like Promin fundamentally changed Hansen's disease, but it came too late for thousands who had already died or suffered irreversible physical damage, leaving survivors with complex feelings of grief and relief. How does this parallel the arrival of combination antiretroviral therapy in 1996, which turned HIV into a manageable condition for many while leaving a generation navigating survivor's guilt and lasting grief?
The politics of shame and secrecy: Rachel’s mother goes to extraordinary lengths to hide her daughter’s symptoms under long sleeves and makeup to protect her from bounty hunters and neighbors. How does this desperate need for concealment compare to the closets, coded language, and quiet cover-ups people living with HIV and LGBTQ people have historically used to protect their livelihoods and safety?
Loss of autonomy and civil rights: Under the territorial laws, patients sent to Kalaupapa were stripped of basic constitutional rights, including freedom of movement, the right to raise their children, and control over medical choices. What does the book reveal about how easily a frightened public will strip minority groups of fundamental rights under the guise of public safety or hygiene?
Grief, cumulative loss, and memorializing: Rachel experiences multiple waves of devastating loss, outliving lovers, dear companions, and entire peer groups, yet she continues to carry their memories forward. How does Rachel’s journey speak to the experience of long-term survivors of the AIDS epidemic who carry the memories of entire friend circles, partners, and artistic communities lost too soon?
Re-entering a fearful world: Even after Rachel is cured and free to leave Moloka'i, she encounters intense paranoia, refusal of service, and visceral disgust when she attempts to live in Honolulu. How does this ongoing prejudice reflect the persistent social stigma and misinformation faced by people living with HIV even after treatments render the virus undetectable and non-transmittable?
Finding celebration and intimacy in a plague zone: Despite the constant shadow of death, the residents of Kalaupapa insisted on throwing parties, writing music, staging theatrical shows, and falling in love. How does this insistence on living fully in the face of illness reflect the history of queer culture, where community, joy, drag, and solidarity flourished even amid crisis?
The power of personal narrative and bearing witness: Brennert wrote Moloka'i to humanize people who had been reduced to medical case files and frightening cautionary tales. How does storytelling serve as an act of resistance and reclamation, both for the forgotten residents of Kalaupapa and for LGBTQ people who have documented their own histories through memoirs, oral histories, and the AIDS Memorial Quilt?
