Matthew Kraus

Melodies of the Isles Matthew Kraus

The dominant outdoors of the island, one of the Hawaiian isles, Oahu fictionalized, is the background for a group of people who are slowly moved out of the main picture, that is of their enjoying the floral and rural areas as fictionalized, by songwriter(s) Sam and Frank, who are yet somewhat a part of that group of people. The group, Wallace, the Landley's, Fred and Madelaine Landley, the somewhat temporal Dimitri, and even the more temporal, Thwarton, a lawyer, who enjoys visiting a lei stand operation hosted by June Nani and a few others toward the end of the story go their own ways. These include relatives and friends.

The protagonist is a transcendental element that shifts between Dimitri, Thwarton the Lawyer, and in events among the participants, Wallace and Fred Landley visiting Waikiki for a night, they have also had an outing together hiking a trail. The lei stand owner-operator is somewhat antagonistic toward the hangers-on who frequent her lei stand, this is the group.

That Wallace picks up a roll of ten dollar bills from an abandoned beach towel at sunset one day, early in the book, is but a glimpse into his personality, This, very vaguely, alludes to the lawyer coming, Wallace hides behind the lei stand.

Towards the end of the story, the family aspect of residents comes out, and after singing freely to numerous visitor groups the songwriter singers are still plugging away with songs.

Having sung their ditties near the lei stand is paramount in this novella. The fictional location is able to show gardens of the island, forest trails and the visiting location near these areas. Thus, it is promotional as beautiful and cute lyrics are particularly, poetically enjoyed by the visitors, and the small group of friends and acquaintances at the end.