TRAVELING TO HAWAI'I AS A "PICTURE BRIDE" IN 1914, Regret finds not the affluent young husband and chance at an education that she has been promised, but a poor, embittered laborer who takes his frustrations out on his new wife. Renaming herself Jin, she makes her own way in this strange land, finding both opportunity and prejudice. With the help of three fellow picture brides, Jin prospers along with her adopt- ed city, now growing from a small territorial capital into the great multicultural city it is today. But paradise has its dark side, whether it's the daily struggle for survival in Honolulu's tenements, or a crime that will become the most infamous in the islands' history....
With its passionate knowledge of a Hawai'i far off the tourist track, Honolulu is the spellbinding tale of four women in a new world, united by dreams, disappointment, sacrifices, and friendship.