THE BUDDHA IN THE ATTIC by J. Otsuka

amyb

Senior Insider
What a powerful 130 page novel. It came out in 2011 and made it to my reading list. I just wanted to change gears and picked this story today.

Japanese mail order brides arrive in California by boat and are claimed and taken away by men who look nothing like the photos their family received in Japanese villages. The men are older, or it is a photo of a friend. Off they go, some brides as young as 10, scattered all around California not for the wonderful promises they were made about coming to America and escaping the poverty of home. They are mostly poor farmers, field workers, or household help. Very little love and affection and lots of hard work.

This leads up to WWII and the orders come from FDR and Congress to round up Japanese people and move them to camps. The families just disappear from their fields, shops, homes and workplaces and local schools. After all they have been through in this new country. Some write to friends for a while, but basically they are DISAPPEARED.

Not a good page in American history, but one that should be read and remembered and talked about. We learn from our past-if we are smart we do! A very moving story so well written and one I will think about and be disturbed about for a long while.
 
It’s on my list... thanks for the overview and recommendation. Our country’s history certainly has its share of painful actions to remember...
 
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