Buddha in the Attic

This book resembles a hand-painted scroll depicting history in scenes. In kimonos and sandals, with long black hair and dreams of a better life, Japanese women board a steamship bound for San Francisco. There, their husbands await, whom the women... have seen only once in a photograph. And also? Nostalgia for their homeland, need, hard labor in the fields or laundries, tireless care for their children, contemptuous attitude from whites, and deportation to internment camps against the backdrop of the war that has begun. Otsuka tells the story of all women at once, using the plural and transforming the sum of all these lives into a heart-wrenching human tragedy symbolizing exile and collective deception. An incredible choir of narrators seems to speak in verses filled with strong emotions, life truths, and wisdom.