Hula: A Novel

Set in Hilo, Hawaiâi, a sweeping saga of tradition, culture, family, history, and connection that unfolds through the lives of three generations of womena tale of mothers and daughters, dance and destiny.  Theres no running away on an island. Soon enough, you end up where you started.  Hii is proud to be a Naupaka, a family renowned for its contributions to hula and her hometown of Hilo, Hawaii, but theres a lot she doesnt understand. Shes never met her legendary grandmother and her mother has never revealed the identity of her father. Worse, unspoken divides within her tight-knit community have started to grow, creating fractures whose origins are somehow entangled with her own family history.  In hula, Hii sees a chance to live up to her name and solidify her place within her family legacy. But in order to win the next Miss Aloha Hula competition, she will have to turn her back on everything she had ever been taught, and maybe even lose the very thing she was fighting for.  Told in part in the collective voice of a community fighting for its survival Hula is a spellbinding debut that offers a rare glimpse into a forgotten kingdom that still exists in the heart of its people.  Jasmin Iolani Hakes was born and raised in Hilo, Hawaii. Her essays have appeared in the Los Angeles Times and the Sacramento Bee. She is the recipient of a 2018 Hedgebrook residency. HULA is her debut novel. She lives in California.