The book contains several short stories that revolve around Hawaii and its cultural morals, taboos, missionaries, and leprosy. All the stories take place near the end of the 19th and beginning of the 20th centuries. (Goodreads)
John Griffith London (born John Griffith Chaney; January 12, 1876 – November 22, 1916 was an American novelist, journalist, and social activist. A pioneer in the world of commercial magazine fiction, he was one of the first writers to become a worldwide celebrity and earn a large fortune from writing. He was also an innovator in the genre that would later become known as science fiction. (Wikipedia)