Chun follows up The Money Dragon
with another book set in Hawaii, this time a sentimental tale of star-crossed lovers unfolding in 1970, 11 years after the island achieved statehood. Miki Ai'Lee, daughter of a prominent Hawaiian family, returns to the island after years of teaching art history at a San Francisco university and crosses paths with Alex Demming, her high school sweetheart. Though 12 years have passed, the same obstacle keeps them apart; the Demmings and the Ai'Lees have been engaged in a bitter feud for generations. To further complicate matters, Miki's brother, Braxton, and Alex's cousin, Chris, are both vying to be the governor's deputy commissioner, with Alex apparently doing his best to help Chris. Most satisfying are the novel's scattered glimpses into Hawaii's history, which will be unfamiliar territory for most readers, and some descriptions show definite elegance ("My father was a quiet, analytical gentleman who thought with his hands"). But Chun's story, though it shoehorns in mystery and scandal (international art thieves; corrupt local politics), rarely engages. The dialogue often feels contrived and merely expository (" 'Miki, I must tell you a family secret'"), purple prose abounds ("my hair fell to my waist like an ebony waterfall or streamed behind me when I ran in the wind") and the characters never quite spring to convincing life. Agent, Elizabeth Pomada. (Nov.)
