Seven year old Rachael dreams of sailing the seas with her father to far off countries just as soon as she is old enough. Instead, the dreaded patch of leprosy is found on her leg and she is taken from her family and put on the island of Moloka’i where she will spend the next 50 years of her life segregated from non-afflicted people. This is a story of life, love, fear, sacrifice, friendship and death. The author told this story with great empathy but also with a touch of humour and much humanity making his characters come alive for us. It took me about 40 pages to actually get into the book and to appreciate this excellent story.
