Buddha in the Attic

The Buddha in the Attic by Julie Otsuka

The author tells the story of “picture brides,” young Japanese women brought to the United States in the early twentieth century to marry men sight unseen. In spare prose, in turns eloquent and brutal,

She tells the story of the women—some only girls—and their hopes about their future husbands. The reflect on their lives in Japan and their future life in America, the voyage across the ocean, their disappointment in their husbands, sex, work, children, and their incarceration in prison camps during World War II. A slim book but with powerful stories to tell.