Hana-lani

By Christine Sunderland

Description:

Only opening their hearts will keep them
from plunging into the dark abyss.

Old Nani-lei lives in Hana-lani, her family home in rural Hawaii. She looks after her grandson Henry, 52, and his daughter Lucy, 6, who have returned to Maui from Berkeley after the death of Maria, Henry's wife. Henry and Maria, both professors, had been working on A History of Ethics, and now the grieving Henry struggles to finish it.
City girl Meredith Campbell, 36, fast-paced, self-centered, and beautiful, believes her body will ensure her happiness. After losing her job and finding her lover unfaithful, she flies to Maui, sure he will follow…but her plane crashes near Hana-lani.
As their worlds collide in a natural world both beautiful and dangerous, Henry will be forced to act on his words, and Meredith will come face-to-face with her own life choices.

A poignant journey that unravels T.S. Eliot’s “permanent questions”—
what is goodness, truth, and love?

Book Takeaway:

What is goodness, truth, and love?

Why the author wrote this book:

I have had the blessing of visiting the small town of Hana on the island of Maui in Hawaii and have been impressed with the culture of family and faith, of "ohana". I wanted to celebrate this culture set against the background of the beauty and danger of the natural world of Hawaii. Woven into these themes was the more fundamental questions of life and how we set about answering these questions.