May I Speak

In a Hawaiian sugar plantation town in the year 1930, a lonely, young writer named May pens secret letters to her father. When she discovers her father’s identity had been hidden from her by her mother and brother, feeling betrayed, she starts to question everything she knows. She finds solace in her budding friendship with her journalistic mentor who lives in the upper class naval officer neighborhood of Mānoa. Then, her brother and childhood friend are accused of a terrible crime. May must grapple with who she believes, who is good, and what is true.

May I Speak is a coming of age story in a land and time where ethnically divided laborers feel pitted against white industrialism and the creeping US navy; and May learns that an anonymous voice is not enough to cultivate a place where she finally feels she belongs.