Monday, August 02, 2021

Clark and Division by Naomi Hirahara

First Line: Rose was always there, even while I was being born.
 
For twenty-year-old Aki Ito and her family, the happy, prosperous world they knew in Los Angeles is gone forever. Imprisoned in Manzanar since Pearl Harbor, Aki and her parents have finally been released, but they're being moved further east to Chicago to rejoin Aki's older sister, Rose. 

When they arrive, it's to the news that Rose committed suicide by jumping in front of a train at Chicago's Clark and Division station. Aki is convinced that her beloved sister did not commit suicide. The police can't be bothered to look into Rose's death any further, so Aki knows that finding the truth is up to her. What she doesn't realize is just how many secrets she will be uncovering to discover what really happened.

~

If you've never read about the lives of Japanese Americans during World War II, you should read Naomi Hirahara's Clark and Division. Readers follow twenty-year-old Aki Ito and her family from their happy pre-Pearl Harbor lives in Los Angeles to their imprisonment in Manzanar in California's Owens Valley to their resettlement in the Japanese American neighborhood of Clark and Division in Chicago.

Readers see everything through Aki's eyes. She worships her older sister, Rose, who is beautiful, intelligent, and accomplished-- everything that Aki wishes she was. In comparison, Aki feels like a slow, unattractive lump, and it's not until the Itos have been in Chicago for a while that it becomes clear that Aki has been selling herself short for most of her life.

Life in Chicago isn't easy. Even giving Rose a proper burial is difficult since cemeteries are not accepting Japanese interments, and Aki cannot believe how everyone seems comfortable with the verdict of suicide on Rose's death. As she juggles her job at the Newberry Library with dealing with her parents, she still finds time to search for answers because she thinks nothing of fighting for her sister even though she won't fight for herself. 

Hirahara does an excellent job of weaving a real feeling of menace into the story, and the mystery is a satisfying one to try to solve. But more than a mystery, it's the story of the Japanese American experience during World War II that's the star of Clark and Division. Watching Aki navigate her way through governmental roadblocks, prejudice, lies, and fear to finally begin to get a real sense of herself and what she's capable of is the best part of this book, and the author's list of suggested reading at the end is invaluable.

Mystery, character study, history... Clark and Division is a story that you won't want to put down until you've read the very last page.
 
Clark and Division by Naomi Hirahara
eISBN: 9781641292504
Soho Press © 2021
eBook, 312 pages
 
Historical Mystery, Standalone
Rating: A
Source: Net Galley

25 comments:

  1. Thank you. This sounds like it's right up my alley: about the horrors of the U.S. internment of the Japanese and located in Chicago. I like the way you describe the main character.

    A very poignant novel about this period is "Snow Falling on Cedars," which I read years ago. It is a classic.

    Also, the actor George Takai wrote a memoir about his family's internment. He was a young child when U.S. soldiers arrived at his door and ordered his family to pack and they were sent to an internment camp.

    What awful days those were. I've seen George Takai talk about this experience and I haven't had the courage to read his book as it is sad and maddening.

    And, according to Nina Revoyr's excellent mystery "Southland," Japanese people who served in the U.S. Army were not treated well. And those who were interned came home to no jobs homes covered with graffiti against the Japanese.

    I may read this book.

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    1. I agree with you about Snow Falling on Cedars.

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    2. Snow Falling on Cedars came to mind for me also while reading this review - such a lovely, evocative, moving book.

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  2. It is another one of those periods in our history that needs more discussion. I've read a few books about the Japanese losing everything and sent to internment camps. A few years ago, I came across The Dearest Joan Project when Joan Gillis rediscovered letters written when she was 13 corresponded with young Japanese students who were sent to camps in Canada.

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    1. Thanks so much for that link to The Dearest Joan Project, Jen.

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  3. This sounds like an excellent look at the life of those who lived in internment camps, and what happened to them. Even after the camps closed, their lives didn't magically get better, and I'm glad the book acknowledges that. In my opinion, it's a part of our history that we need to remember and be open about, although it's painful.

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    1. Yes, we do. If we forget, the past will continue to repeat itself.

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  4. This sounds like a good one, Cathy! I have read some about the Japanese Americans during WWII, but wouldn't mind reading more.

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    1. It is a good one, Gretchen. Hirahara is a very talented writer.

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  5. This sounds interesting for lots of reasons but mainly because what it likely has to say about the impact that WWII really had on Japanese Americans. I still find it hard to believe that our government found it necessary to mistreat those unfortunate people so badly.

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    1. I'm sad to say that I don't find it difficult to believe. Racism has much deeper roots in his country than most of us would like to believe. Anyone who's "different" will always be attacked.

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  6. This book was already on my ever-growing list, so I'm delighted to see such a good review.

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    1. We'll never run out of books to read, will we? :-)

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  7. Prison and suicide are very sad issues. Dealing with these circumstances are amazing. I will write the title down.

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    1. I hope you get a chance to read it, and that you'll enjoy it.

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  8. Sarah Weinman gave this book a good review in the Aug. 8 NYT Book Review in her Crime column. I have to read this one.

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    1. I remember that, as I read the book, I thought that you'd enjoy it.

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  9. I have been looking forward to reading this. Have read a couple, of her cozier books.

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    1. I've read (and want to read more) of her Mas Arai series.

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  10. Just watched author Naomi Hirahara at the Poisoned Pen. Very good interview. I have this book on library reserve.

    And I discovered this author has a series set in Haiaii, so I put that first book on ebook hold.

    I encourage readers to see this writer's interview at the PP.

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  11. Meant to say that the cover once again shows only part of a woman's face. Is this supposed to intrigue readers into picking up the book? I would have liked to see the woman's entire face.

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    1. I just ignored it and took a closer look at the street scene in the bottom left corner.

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  12. Loved Aki Ito and this book. Hope there are more books with her featured. I think I'll try to find a way to ask the writer about this. So interesting to read about what the Japanese people in the U.S. had to deal with, and it's maddening, too.

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    1. It would be interesting to see if she decides to write more about this character. I wouldn't mind more myself.

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Thank you for taking the time to make a comment. I really appreciate it!