Unhappy Paradise in 'The Descendants'

By Alan Cheuse

Published August 3, 2007 at 4:00 PM EDT

Kaui Hart Hemmings' first novel, set in Hawaii, recalls that first line of Anna Karenina: that "happy families are all alike, but every unhappy family is unhappy in its own way." In this case, it's a family as wealthy as it is unhappy.

Alan Cheuse

Alan Cheuse died on July 31, 2015. He had been in a car accident in California earlier in the month. He was 75. Listen to NPR Special Correspondent Susan Stamburg's retrospective on his life and career.

See stories by Alan Cheuse

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