Plot summary, “Hawaii” by James A. Michener in 6 Minutes - Book Review

Hawaii is a novel by James A. Michener published in 1959, the year that Hawaii became the 50th U.S. state. It has been translated into 32 languages. The historical correctness of the novel is high, although the narrative about the early Polynesian inhabitants is based more on folklore than anthropological and archaeological sources. It is written in episodic format, like many of Michener’s works, and narrates the stories of the original Hawaiians who sailed to the islands from Bora Bora, the early American missionaries and merchants, and the Chinese and Japanese immigrants who traveled to work and seek their fortunes in Hawaii. The story begins with the formation of the islands themselves millions of years ago and ends in the mid-1950s. Each section explores the experiences of different groups of arrivals.