Explored from varying points of view - the mother receiving the order to evacuate; the daughter on the long train journey; the son in the desert encampment; the family's return home; and the bitter release of their father after four years in captivity, this book tells of an incarceration that can alter their lives for ever..
Review
A remarkable, beautifully written story of panic, prejudice and shame ... outstandingly accomplished and moving - Sunday Telegraph
An intense jewel of a book written with clarity and beauty - Marie Claire
Vindicates the suffering of the Japanese in America . . . a blistering first novel - The Times Literary Supplement
A compelling, powerful portrait of a terrible endurance. Terrific - The Times
Exceptional - New Yorker
About the Author
Julie Otsuka was born and raised in California. She pursued a career as a painter for several years before turning to fiction writing at age 30. Her first two novels When the Emperor Was Divine (nominated for the Women's Prize) and The Buddha in the Attic were internationally celebrated. She is a recipient of the PEN/Faulkner Award, the Asian American Literary Award, France's Prix Femina Étranger and a Guggenheim Fellowship, and was a finalist for the National Book Award, the Los Angeles Times Book Prize, and The International IMPAC Dublin Literary Award. She now lives in New York City. Her latest novel, The Swimmers, published at Fig Tree.