Dundurn Books, April 15, 2017.
Three Stars
Rita Takemitsu is a recently divorced mother, living
in Toronto in the mid-1980s. Her daughter is spending the summer with her
father in Vancouver, and Rita has the summer off from teaching school, so she
is free to wallow in the self-pity she is feeling about the direction her life
has taken. That is, until she finds out that her mother Lily has gone missing –
and the police aren’t taking the case seriously.
Lily has a history of memory issues and mental
breakdowns, which Rita struggled with throughout her childhood. Rita was raised
by her grandfather after her father left them, but Lily often confused the two
men with each other. When Rita meets with Lily’s newest husband to report her
disappearance, she discovers that he knows very little about her past. With
little help from the police, and a stepfather that has given up on Lily, Rita decides
to start investigating on her own.
Rita finds out that Lily had been attending the
meetings of a group that sought reparations for the Japanese internment during
World War II – she had been interned in a camp in California when she was
eighteen years old. A professor whose father was also interned is helping with
the cause, and he and Rita begin working together to track down Lily. The two
of them end up getting involved in a very normal, realistic relationship that
was one of the highlights of the novel. Although the book moves through history
– from Lily’s time at the camp to Rita’s summer in Toronto – I found that the
characters in Rita’s section were much more fleshed out and believable.
The mystery of Lily’s disappearance is offset by the
literary and historical elements of Lily’s past and Rita’s family drama, especially
as she attempts to reconcile her mother to the person she once was. There is
also the mystery of who Rita’s father really was – Lily claims that it was Kaz,
a man she met at the camp, but as Rita gathers information about her mother,
she also learns that her father may have been someone very different. Lily fell
in love with Kaz despite the flaws and warning signs, and she seemed to be trying
to convince everyone, including herself, that he loved her. Lily lies
constantly about her past, but it is not always intentional, as even she does
not seem to remember the truth through her confusion.
This novel explores a horrific period of our history
(and Canada is included here too) that is often glossed over and ignored.
People at the time thought that the interned Japanese were being treated even
better than the general public, when in fact they were herded into army
barracks and fed just enough to survive. More importantly, their homes,
businesses and civil rights were taken from them. Although the sections set in
the camp were more historically interesting, I found the modern characters more
compelling. Their reconciliation of their parents’ pasts was emotional and
intriguing, and a subject that is relevant to all of us today.
I received this book from Dundurn Books and NetGalley
in exchange for an honest review.
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