Hawaii鈥檚 Big Island creates the setting for a novel about family and memory
In Mariko Abe鈥檚 otherwise uncluttered bedroom in Hilo, Hawaii, a dresser is covered with small objects 鈥� stones and shells collected over the years, carved kukui nuts, a piece of obsidian glass from a memorable trip to a lava cave.
鈥淚鈥檓 leaving a trail of my life,鈥� she tells the man who brought her to that cave, Koji Sanada. 鈥淭ells folks where I鈥檝e been and what meant something to me.鈥�
Such small things add up to riches in 鈥淭he Color of Air,鈥� Gail Tsukiyama鈥檚 novel of enduring love 鈥� and, just as important, enduring friendships. A weekly card game of hearts in a close-knit community, an annual ritual of picking mangoes from a family tree, a recurring gift of toy train cars 鈥� Tsukiyama knows these quiet actions build connections as meaningful as any earth-shattering dramas. It鈥檚 even telling that the story鈥檚 backdrop is the 1935 eruption of Mauna Loa, a notable event but not one of the most destructive blasts in the volcano鈥檚 history.聽
The book is the eighth novel from Tsukiyama, whose website biography notes that she was born to a Chinese mother from Hong Kong and a Japanese father from Hawaii. It鈥檚 the first book she鈥檚 published in eight years, and one of several of her works set in or around the first half of the 20th century.聽
Tsukiyama鈥檚 descriptions of Hilo are immersive and intimate, taking readers from muggy heat and scorched sugar cane stalks to bright blossoms and choppy ocean waves. The natural world is integral here, and central to her characters鈥� lives: 鈥淔rom the moment Koji set foot onto the black lava rocks as a boy, he knew that the island was a living organism and they were simply guests.鈥�
Spirits are present everywhere as well. The line between present and past is as intangible sometimes as the barrier between the dead and the living.聽
The effect is poetic, never more so than in Mariko鈥檚 thoughts when she is ill and near death. Further illuminating the book鈥檚 title, she muses, 鈥淚 won鈥檛 go far, I promise, yeah. Like this island, I鈥檓 already remaking myself. Look and you will feel me everywhere, in the rocks, in the water, in the color of the air.鈥�
Beyond the threat from volcanic activity, the book鈥檚 setting provides plenty of tension. The characters cope with labor strife in the sugar plantations and the related racism, poverty, and hierarchical struggles facing the Japanese, Chinese, Filipino, and Portuguese workers.聽
The story begins in 1935, two years after Mariko鈥檚 untimely death, when her grown son Daniel returns to the village. Daniel is a doctor, the first 鈥淗ilo boy鈥� to mark that success, overcoming institutional racism as the only 鈥淥riental鈥� in his program in Chicago. When a work tragedy robs Daniel of his confidence, he鈥檚 welcomed with joy back to Hilo, where he鈥檚 virtually a son to Mariko鈥檚 circle of friends. Daniel鈥檚 homecoming leads to old secrets being revealed and several characters coming to terms with their choices in life.聽
The book moves back and forth through the decades, with various characters taking turns at narration, but Koji feels the most central and vivid throughout. He follows in his father鈥檚 footsteps, becoming the fastest cane cutter on the Big Island. His skill earns him a measure of security in the brutal fields, despite his quiet personality.
Ultimately, while no one escapes the hardships of life on the island, for most the benefits are worth the cost. Daniel recognizes this when Pele, goddess of fire and volcanoes, rumbles in warning. He watches 鈥渁 tall, pale geologist from the Volcano Observatory Center, who talked about the latest eruption and the eventual lava flow toward Hilo if it didn鈥檛 stop.鈥�
鈥淲hatever was going to happen, they鈥檇 find a way through it,鈥� Daniel says of the villagers. Some of their stories are small, but in Tsukiyama鈥檚 hands we鈥檙e reminded that even ordinary lives contain extraordinary depths.
