TERRITORY

Hawai‘i, 1893: Coconut palms still sway in the wind, rainbows stretch across the sky, yet on the horizon, a storm is already brewing. American industrialists overthrow the queen in a coup and prepare the islands’ annexation by the United States. In Honolulu, tensions simmer, and the rifts extend even into the influential German community of the archipelago, for a land is being stolen – and it resists.
At the center of these events are three extraordinary women: the wise and witty Queen Lili‘uokalani, her German advisor Gertrude Wolf, and the courageous journalist Emma Nāwahī. They are united not only by their love for Hawai‘i and their vision for its future, but above all by a deep friendship tested to the breaking point as their world faces impending collapse. As the decisive battle approaches, each must make her own choice: fight or submit, love or hate, stand firm or surrender.

With passion, Sabrina Janesch portrays how people rise above themselves – or are led astray – during fateful times. A gripping, vividly imagined novel about the price of freedom and self-determination.