A review by rsutton06
The Buddha in the Attic by Julie Otsuka

3.0

I picked up this title because it is the One Book, One Philadelphia read for 2013. It is about Japanese Picture Brides who immigrated to the U.S. in early 1900s to California. It details their variety of experiences up to the start of WWII. It includes descriptions of the days leading up to the internment of the Japanese. The book had an interesting narrative style I haven't encountered before. It links many narratives, some only a paragraph long which has the effect of telling many stories. While there is little depth to any one narrative, the collective narratives paint a mosaic-like story of the experiences of a people rather than one individual experience. The book is a quick read and would appeal to anyone looking for a fictional account of the Japanese-American immigrant experience. Recommended.