Hawaii by James A. Michener (1994)

James Michener is not an author for the light reader - most of his works top 1000 pages, and Hawaii is no exception. However, if your reading stamina is up to the task, Michener takes you on a journey across all of time, from the volcanic origins of the islands to the present, weaving a gripping story of the families and cultures that shaped and were shaped by Hawaii.

The novel begins by following the geological formation of the islands and the arrival of plant and animal life. This section can be a little boring, but adds much depth to the coming story, so it's worth putting up with until you get to the next section - the flight of a persecuted group of Polynesians to islands no living human had seen. Hundreds of years later, with the arrival of the American missionaries who, for better or for worse, were going to set Hawaii on its final evolutionary path, the real story begins. Chinese and Japanese immigrants join the native Hawaiians and the descendants of the missionaries in a complex interweaving of cultures and personalities that define a place that truly is like no other. Eventually so many characters appear that it becomes a little difficult to keep them all straight, but considering the book spans a thousand years and several hundred characters, Michener does an admirable job. He immerses you in the lives of, among others: an impulsive Bora Boran navigator sailing to the words of a poem that may lead his people to a new land; a stoic Calvinist missionary who loathes the natives he's come to save; the Chinese wife of a leper who accompanies him into exile and returns to rule a dynasty; and the last queen of Hawaii, leader and lover of a dying race.

Michener's prose is unobtrusive but vivid, drawing you into the souls of the people whose stories he tells. You can taste the pineapples growing on the mountainsides of Kauai, smell the ships sailing into Lahaina, and hear the haunting lilt of the hula. Even if you never visit it, you will never forget Hawaii after reading this book.