Heather's books

Sarah's Key
Room
Rainwater
The Help
A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius
Charlie and the Chocolate Factory
Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets
New Moon
Eclipse
Breaking Dawn
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows
The Lightning Thief
Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix
Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince
Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire
Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban
The Notebook
Eat, Pray, Love
The Time Traveler's Wife
Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone


Heather's favorite books »

Tuesday, April 1, 2014

A tiny aspect of the aftermath of Pearl Harbor

When the Emperor Was Divine
When the Emperor was Divine

By: Julie Otsuka

Genre: historical fiction

Pages: 144

Published: 2003

Read: April

4 out of 5


What I loved most about this story was that each of the 5 chapters was told from a different family member’s perspective. Told chronologically through one Japanese family’s experience of the aftermath of the Pearl Harbor attack – from the news of evacuation (mother), the train ride (the daughter), the camp (the son), arriving home (family), to the father’s reunion (the father) – this novel is a true eye opener. Otsuka gracefully tells this fictional family’s story of one of the world’s most tragic events.  I loved the strength, uniqueness, and bluntness of each character.  It took a long time to get adjusted to all the main characters not having names, but then I realized it was probably because this could have been any family and not a specific family. 

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