The Aloha Spirit : A Novel

The spirit of aloha is found in Hawaii’s fresh ocean air, the flowers, the trade winds . . . the natural beauty that smooth the struggles of daily life.In 1922 Honolulu, unhappy in the adoptive family that’s raised her, Dolores begins to search for that spirit early on-and she begins by running away at sixteen to live with her newlywed friend Maria. Trying to find her own love, Dolores marries a young Portuguese man named Manolo His large family embraces her, but when his drinking leads to physical abuse, only his relative Alberto comes to her rescue-and sparks a passion within Dolores that she hasn’t known before.Staunch Catholics can’t divorce, however; so, after the Pearl Harbor attack, Dolores flees with her two daughters to California, only to be followed by both Manolo and Alberto.In California, Manolo’s drinking problems continue-and Alberto’s begin.Outraged that yet another man in her life is turning to the bottle for answers, Dolores starts to doubt her feelings for Alberto.Is