Kaui grew up in Hawaii and has degrees from Colorado College and Sarah Lawrence College. A former Wallace Stegner fellow, she now lives in Hawaii. Her work has appeared in The Sun, StoryQuarterly, Zoetrope, Best American Nonrequired Reading, Best American New Voices, the L.A Times, and the New York Times. House of Thieves is a collection of stories. The Descendants is her first novel. It has been published in five other countries and will soon be a film directed by Alexander Payne.