Our mayor has assured us there is no need for alarm. ‘The Japanese are in a safe place,’ he is quoted as saying in this morning’s Star Tribune. He is not at liberty, however, to reveal where that place is. ‘They wouldn’t be safe now, would they, if I told you where they were.’ But what place could be safer, some of us ask, than right here, in our own town?
And then, one morning, there is not a single notice to be found, and for a moment the town feels oddly naked, and it is almost as if the Japanese were never here at all.
I absolutely loved this book! Otsuka’s novella begins with the story of Japanese women who were sent from Japan to the San Francisco area as mail order brides after World War I, and then ends with the Japanese internment of World War II. Told in a collective voice of “we” (which might irritate some but I found wonderful), and in only 129 pages, Otsuka manages to convincingly bare the souls of these women and make the reader wholly sympathetic of their situations in life.
We cooked for them. We cleaned for them. We helped them chop wood. But it was not we who were cooking and cleaning and chopping, it was somebody else. And often our husbands did not even notice we’d disappeared.
It was fascinating to see the progression of their lives; of their initial reluctance to their new home and husbands, their children’s rejection of their Japanese heritage, and ultimately, their desire to ‘go back to normal’ after their terrible and shameful treatment by the American government.
I definitely plan on reading When The Emperor Was Divine, and probably every other book Otsuka puts out as well.
Highly, highly recommended.
2011, 129 pp.
FTC Disclosure: I obtained this book through my local public library.
I started this one this morning with my coffee and had a hard time making it to work on time. I cannot wait to get home to finish it. I’m so glad to hear you loved it so much. Based on the first half, I’m also eager to read Otsuka’s other work.
nomadreader (Carrie) recently posted..book review: The Submission by Amy Waldman
Glad you liked it, too, Carrie!! I’ll definitely be looking forward to your thoughts on the book on your blog!!!
I’m so pleased that this loved up to expectations – I’m looking forward to reading it.
Jackie (Farm Lane Books) recently posted..Titus Awakes – Maeve Gilmore and Mervyn Peake
The author is going to be at an event in NY later this month and I am looking forward to hearing her speak. I am glad you enjoyed the book so much – definitely one for my TBR!
Colleen recently posted..The Three Weissmanns of Westport by Cathleen Schine
Well, see, now I know I shouldn’t have brought this book back to the library unread…
Kailana recently posted..Birthday Loot
What a wonderful review, Michelle, starting with the quote and then your line, “I absolutely loved this book!” I’ve read her novel The Emporer Was Divine which I, too, absolutely loved. Now this is going both on my I-want-to-read-this list as well as the suggested reading list for the JLC5. Thanks for the heads up!
Bellezza recently posted..Sunday Salon: Au revoir, Septembre. Bonjour Octobre!
The story line was a collective pool of story’s all put together. There were no main characters. I didn’t feel the era come through the writing and I was disappointed with the abrupt end. With that said, I did found it interesting but would not recommend it.
Italia recently posted..Hard Times