I Myself Have Seen It »

The oldest of the Hawaiian islands, Kauai is remarkably unchanged. It is the only island from which the others are not visible, except for tiny, privately owned Niihau. With a population of only 5,000 people, Kauai retains a 19th-century ruralism, managing to accommodate the “mainland” world without losing its mystery and beauty. As a child, Susanna Moore spent her school holidays on Kauai, and it is there she returns to find the elusive heart of Hawaii.

“I am interested in what might be called the written and unwritten songs of Hawaii, as they are found not only in oral tradition, but in myth, poetry, music, and the landscape itself.... The myths were strong, and they are still present—sometimes hidden, sometimes less evident to an unaccustomed eye,” Moore writes. In the breathtaking landscape of Kauai, she discovers that the old, unwritten songs of Polynesia have survived despite the onslaught of missionaries in the early 18th century, the establishment of Hawaiian-language newspapers, and foreign attempts to free Hawaiians of their pagan superstitions. These songs and the ones engendered by them, written by queens and hula masters and Presbyterian ministers alike, become the evocative centerpiece for Susanna Moore’s mesmerizing discovery of Hawaii.

Newsday

In exquisitely drawn anecdotes, Moore illumines what her life was like as a modern native?. [A] deliciously satisfying travel memoir.?More than a guidebook to Hawaii, Moore's book lets you taste what is really there beyond the tourists traps, the cellophane garlands and the tiny bubbles floating in a cocktail glass.