The Buddha In The Attic

Nominated for the 2011 National Book Award, The Buddha In The Attic novel by American author Julie Otsuka tells the story of Japanese mail order brides immigrating to America. Through a series of vignettes, Otsuka “has developed a literary style that is half poetry, half narration – short phrases, sparse description, so that the current of emotion running through each chapter is made more resonant by her restraint.”

Nearly a century ago, Otsuka traces the extraordinary lives of six Japanese mail-order brides, whose new lives in San Francisco are marked by backbreaking migrant work, cultural struggles, dealing with the casual racism of pre-war America, children who reject their heritage, and the prospect of wartime internment. Link, Link

Tagged America, Asia (North), Culture