Buddha in the Attic, Julie Otsuka
I read The Buddha in the Attic by Julie Otsuka last night. I could not put the book down. A brilliant example of historical fiction from contemporary writing. It is about the Japanese immigrants chasing the American dream in the early 1900s. Told from the perspective of a collective group of Japanese women, who remain nameless. But it tracks them from the time they board the ship in Japan as the modern day equivalent of mail order brides to land on the hallowed shores of America, the birth of their children, the various menial jobs they hold or travel in search of better jobs till the time of WWII when the “Japs” are looked upon askance. These women are caught in a terribly painful situation of being ostracized by society, treated like worse than filth by their patriarchal husbands and what is worse, distanced by their own kids who do not want to really have anything to do with their parents, who are so obviously alien to the American culture, modes of lifestyle and language. Julie has written this slim (it is only 117 pages) novel after loads of research. She lists some of the books that were consulted for her writing. It is the perfect little gem of historical fiction. Brings you immediately into the story (the hallmark of a good storyteller) and creating a moment in history evocatively, putting in sufficient background details to place it in a period setting, but without crowding the text or obstructing the narrative/story/plot. Read it, if you can.
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