Kōkua

Salt & Sand Publications

Stephanie Hoffman

Genre; Women’s Fiction

334 pages, 85,225 words

Kōkua is the Polynesian word used to describe the spirit of kindness accompanied by a desire to help one another, without expecting anything in return. More specifically, it translates to extending loving and sacrificial help to others for their benefit, and not for personal gain.

Kōkua challenges the reader to think about modern western medicine and offers alternative healing approaches. It is ultimately a tale of love, empathy and compassion for others, and how finding one’s purpose becomes a lifeline for anyone wavering on the precipice of despair.

Synopsis

Dr. Reagan Caldwell has left the U.S. and Western Medicine, as she knows it. Reagan feels lost and disillusioned with medicine; Big Pharma telling her how to practice, the inequity of it all, and her lawyer-boyfriend turned fraud.

So she heads to the South Pacific to purge her demons and escape her disdain for the over privileged. Reagan is a life-long surfer and ends up in Fiji. From page 1 we see Reagan’s journey unfold. There she meets Islanders who are suffering from the crippling effects of Hansen’s disease (Leprosy). Reagan returns to doctoring. BUT this time her Hippocratic oath would have a new meaning.

They call her Kōkua, the Polynesian term for Helper. Reagan would renew her passion and purpose for helping others. Reagan’s secret work is jeopardized when a Hollywood film crew arrives to shoot a film on the island. She has no interest in the lead actor that everyone fawns over. But Jeremy Black becomes somewhat obsessed with the naturally beautiful, strong and graceful surfer. The tension between Reagan and Jeremy rises to tinder hot but the filming wraps up and he leaves the island without saying goodbye.

Ultimately Reagan needs to choose between life and death, love and fear and… The hardest question…

On what day do you choose to die, when faced with endless suffering?

Kōkua is unrelenting; a fast paced novel with sharp twists and turns. There is no doubt it questions controversial medical practices. Kōkua also offers new possibilities, hopeful insights and a bit of love and joy.

This is Steph Hoffman’s first fiction novel. She has contributed to academic journals and textbooks, fitness magazines with articles related to health and injury prevention, blogs, posts and newsletters for her school in Haiti (Project Edeline).

“My work inspires my writing.” - Stephanie Hoffman