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sonireads 's review for:
Speak, Okinawa: A Memoir
by Elizabeth Miki Brina
Elizabeth's mother meets her father while she is working as a nightclub hostess in American-occupied Okinawa. The differences in their language, culture, lifestyle define their relationship as they raise their daughter in upstate New York. Elizabeth feels disconnected from her Okinawan heritage as a young child but as she reconciles with her mother, and starts to understand the injustices faced by the Okinawan people, she comes to terms with her identity.
This was a beautiful book. A memoir is typically written about the author's life, but in this case, the author pays homage to her mother's challenging life. It highlighted a lot of mother/daughter dynamics, an immigrant story as well as the intergenerational trauma that can follow individuals without experiencing the trauma first-hand. This book does a beautiful job of teaching the reader the history of Okinawa, while keeping it interesting with many personal anecdotes.
I highly recommend this to anyone who wants to learn about Okinawa. I must admit that I was totally ignorant to the history, as well as what is still currently a US-occupied land.
I received a copy as a host of The Gloss Book Club.
This was a beautiful book. A memoir is typically written about the author's life, but in this case, the author pays homage to her mother's challenging life. It highlighted a lot of mother/daughter dynamics, an immigrant story as well as the intergenerational trauma that can follow individuals without experiencing the trauma first-hand. This book does a beautiful job of teaching the reader the history of Okinawa, while keeping it interesting with many personal anecdotes.
I highly recommend this to anyone who wants to learn about Okinawa. I must admit that I was totally ignorant to the history, as well as what is still currently a US-occupied land.
I received a copy as a host of The Gloss Book Club.