“On the boat we often wondered: Would we like them? Would we love them?
Would we recognize them from their pictures when we first saw them on the dock?”
This provocative novel tells the story of a group of young women coming from Japan to San Francisco as “picture brides” nearly a century ago.
Julie Otsuka’s luminous prose shares collective impressions of the women’s first glimpses of their new husbands-often to their dismay. The reality of the men’s appearance and demeanor compared to the pictures they had been sent was beyond disheartening!
The author’s direct and powerful writing style in these entwined tales subtly augments the stark reality of the women continuing their lives in this new world and their struggles with a new language and culture so different from where they grew up.
Gloriously revealing a sense of time and place for the “brides” experiences ranging from their journey on the boat on through to the arrival of war with Japan in the United States, Otsuka’s book has so many moments which haunt you. Especially startling for me were recounts of the women’s first nights as newlyweds to men they do not know.
This exceptional title is a wonderful choice for fans of Honolulu by Alan Brennert and those interested in historical fiction and women’s lives.
Also, don’t miss the author’s debut novel, When the Emperor was Divine, which follows the lives of Japanese-Americans as they are forced into internment camps during WWII.
Set in late 18th century London, this riveting historical thriller/mystery is an amazing period piece set during the French Revolution replete with ex-patriate astronomers, lurking spies, and brutal killer murdering red-haired prostitutes.
I have always been drawn to stories shifting between different times frames relayed from various character’s perspectives. Toss in Appalachian folklore, a has-been TV Horror Movie host, and a touch of the supernatural, and I am definitively intrigued!
“It was half past five in the morning as I lurched through the front door of the B&B. Mrs O’Sullivan appeared just in time to see me pause to admire the luminous Virgin holy water stand with integral night-light, and knock it off the wall. Politely declining the six rounds of ham sandwiches on the tray she was holding, I edged gingerly along the hallway to the wrong bedroom door and opened it.”
A relevant quotation by Fantasy Author Lynn Abbey states: “Short-story writing requires an exquisite sense of balance.”
“Everyone has a story…” When an earthquake traps nine people in an Indian passport visa office in an unnamed American city, the roof collapses and the water level begins to slowly rise - a punk teenager, an African American ex-soldier, a Muslim-American struggling with 9/11, a Chinese grandmother with secrets, two office workers on the brink of an affair and others must band together to survive.
In this nail-biting, nonstop thriller, the setting is New Year’s Eve in Washington DC. A psychopath “Digger” threatens to shoot into crowds every four hours, until his demands are met-a 20 million dollar ransom to be delivered through a partner. But when the accomplice is unexpectedly killed in a traffic accident while onroute to the money drop, the FBI turns to Parker Kincaid, a retired FBI forensic document expert with their only clue-the ransom note. 
This timeless holiday tale of a man redeemed through the ghosts of Christmas Past, Present, and Future has been retold countlessly on stage, screen, cartoons, and even a “Black Adder” special on British Television…but, for those of you who have not read it…do it!!
Anne Perry is my all-time favorite Victorian period mystery author bar none! Perry includes memorable complex characters and always a not-all-is-ever-as-it seems suspenseful tale.
