Author’s Note
147 Words
Author’s NoteWhen I visited Hawaii in 1983, I found it very very beautiful. I saw the Iolani Palace built by the ‘Merry Monarch’, King Kalakaua, and the famous Waikiki beach.
In 1889 His Majesty lent the Royal Beach House, which I mention in this novel, to Robert Louis Stevenson.
The author was, on his arrival in Hawaii, greeted as a celebrity and struck up a warm friendship with the King and they frequently gave luaus and informal parties for each other.
The details of King Kalakaua’s Coronation, which lasted for two weeks, are correct and it took place in 1883, nine years after he had been elected to the throne by the Legislative Assembly.
Hawaii although over-built and over-populated is still magical and, when at Diamond Point I looked out at dawn and dusk, I found myself repeating Rupert Brooke’s sonnet,
“And her stars burn in the ancient skies
Over the murmurous soft Hawaiian sea.”
- Writer
