book cover of Opium Dreams
 

Opium Dreams

(2012)
A collection of stories by

 
 
From award-winning Hawaiian author, Kiana Davenport, comes OPIUM DREAMS, Pacific Stories Volume III, a followup to her bestselling collections, HOUSE OF SKIN, Prize-winning Stories, and CANNIBAL NIGHTS, Pacific Stories Volume II.

OPIUM DREAMS continues her fascinating tales of the peoples of the Pacific, and their struggles for identity and dignity. Volume III speaks especially of love in all its myriad variations, and how even when love fails, characters rise to a human nobility, an aristocracy of the heart.

With her signature delving into the dark side of her native Paradise, Davenport offers provocative and haunting tales of obsession, adultery, racism, drug addiction, homophobia and always, the enduring bonds of family blood.

A Samoan wife is subjected to her husband's philandering with white women tourists, until a learned Englishman falls in love with her, moving the husband to recognize her beauty as he faces the threat of losing her.

Emotionally crippled by her father's enduring cold-heartedness, a beautiful Chinese-Hawaiian accepts her loveless existence by plunging into opium addiction, and worse.

An island cowboy kills his unfaithful wife, and is redeemed by the love of a boy and a stranger. Grieving for her brother killed in the Gulf Wars, a Maori woman sinks into a life of homelessness, prostitution, even murder.

A mix-blood Hawaiian rebels against her posh Hollywood life by burning her house down, attacking her husband's mistress, then fleeing to the islands. Only an unthinkable tragedy unites them.

A Hawaiian dandy enters the lives of a small, racist, Southern town, and introduces people to beauty and magic. As he slowly dies, he teaches a bigotted redneck the meaning of acceptance, humanity, even love.

The author has lived on the island of Savai'i, Western Samoa, where the story 'Night of The Worm" takes place. (This is a phenomenon that happens once a year when coral 'gives birth' across the South Pacific Ocean.) She has also lived in New Zealand where the story 'Maoritanga' is set. 'Bullets Over Hollywood' and 'The Speed of Light' are based on true stories. 'Opium Dreams'
was condensed from a novel which is still dancing in the author's head.

Amazon Reader Reviews of CANNIBAL NIGHTS...

(5 Stars) "BRUTALLY BEAUTIFUL. Tales of tragedy and triumph, murder, rape, lust and love. Important literature for the 21st Century." - Robert Carraher

(5 Stars) "REMARKABLE TALENT. I was blown away. Her stories are dark and twisted, human and wonderful. Couldn't get enough." - Mark Edward Hall.

(5 Stars) "LIFE IN ITS FULL SPLENDOR. Stories suffused with fervent passion for vengeance, for lust, for life!" - Chinmay Hota

(5 Stars) "FLAWLESS PROSE. Rivetting characters. A must-read for anyone who wants to delve into the dark side of Paradise." - Honi Aumiller

(5 Stars) "HAIR-RAISINGLY BEAUTIFUL! Amazing." - Morpho Menelaus

Amazon Reader Reviews of HOUSE OF SKIN...

(5 Stars) "STUNNED BY THE POWER OF THESE STORIES! I cried while reading [several]. They will haunt me for a long time." - Becky Young

(5 Stars) "EXTRAORDINARY. ABSOLUTELY STUNNING. She has introduced me to a world I might never have known. - Scott Fitzgerald Gray.

(5 Stars) "UTTERLY HYPNOTIC. Some of the most astonishing stories I have ever read." - Kathleen Valentine

(5 Stars) THE WRITING SHINES! It's gorgeous. Brilliant. Recommended to anyone who loves beautifully writing." - Violetta Vane

(5 Stars) "A MASTER TALE-SPINNER! With this one book of stories she now ranks among my favorite authors." - Thomas Dulaney

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Genre: General Fiction

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