A review by juliasilge
The Buddha in the Attic by Julie Otsuka

3.0

This short novel about Japanese mail-order brides who emigrated to California in the first decades of the 20th century is lovely and interesting. It's written in the plural 1st person, which worked for me. It didn't come off as gimmicky or silly; it made this novel feel wide in scope and maybe highlighted differences in cultural attitudes about individualism. There is a good bit of sexual violence, which was hard to get through, but it is super interesting to hear the diverse stories of women who came and built new lives in rural farm areas, Japantowns in big cities, etc. The story ends with the internment of people of Japanese heritage in camps during World War II, a grim event in Japanese-American life indeed.