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cindywilk 's review for:
Speak, Okinawa: A Memoir
by Elizabeth Miki Brina
Every once in awhile a book comes along that hits a very personal spot. SPEAK, OKINAWA was such a book and I’m not sure I’m going to be able to articulate all of my feelings but I’m going to try.
Elizabeth and I both have fathers who served in the military and met their wives overseas (hers in Okinawa, mine in Korea). Elizabeth and I both grew up in predominately white neighborhoods and experienced racism and micro aggressions. Elizabeth is biracial, and I’m adopted, but we both understand what it feels like to grow up hating apart of yourself, and not understanding why until later on in life. There were moments where it felt like she went into my brain and extracted my thoughts and feelings.
I felt seen. Elizabeth latched on to her white father and was cruel, as children can be, to her mother. Some of her behavior was awful, but I also had a very deep understanding of the why. I was able to read this book through the lens of that child, but also through the lens of a mother of my own biracial child, and that made this a very emotional read.
The reader also gets a very intimate look into the marriage between her mother and father. In the beginning, it felt like there was a clear good guy and bad guy. But as the story came to a close I felt like I really understood their marriage, their mutual respect for one another, and their love.
What I wasn’t expecting was getting a history lesson about Okinawa, which I found to be fascinating. I originally thought it was a city in Japan, not an island, and I had no idea about the contentious feelings towards the States. It blended seamlessly into Elizabeth’s narrative.
Elizabeth writes with poetic-like prose and it feels like you flit from thought to thought, memory to memory, but everything felt intentional and flowed. Much of this book isn’t necessarily happy but by the time you reach the end, you’re left with a sense of hope and joy. SPEAK, OKINAWA felt like one big apology to her mother, and was beautiful and is a must read.
Elizabeth and I both have fathers who served in the military and met their wives overseas (hers in Okinawa, mine in Korea). Elizabeth and I both grew up in predominately white neighborhoods and experienced racism and micro aggressions. Elizabeth is biracial, and I’m adopted, but we both understand what it feels like to grow up hating apart of yourself, and not understanding why until later on in life. There were moments where it felt like she went into my brain and extracted my thoughts and feelings.
I felt seen. Elizabeth latched on to her white father and was cruel, as children can be, to her mother. Some of her behavior was awful, but I also had a very deep understanding of the why. I was able to read this book through the lens of that child, but also through the lens of a mother of my own biracial child, and that made this a very emotional read.
The reader also gets a very intimate look into the marriage between her mother and father. In the beginning, it felt like there was a clear good guy and bad guy. But as the story came to a close I felt like I really understood their marriage, their mutual respect for one another, and their love.
What I wasn’t expecting was getting a history lesson about Okinawa, which I found to be fascinating. I originally thought it was a city in Japan, not an island, and I had no idea about the contentious feelings towards the States. It blended seamlessly into Elizabeth’s narrative.
Elizabeth writes with poetic-like prose and it feels like you flit from thought to thought, memory to memory, but everything felt intentional and flowed. Much of this book isn’t necessarily happy but by the time you reach the end, you’re left with a sense of hope and joy. SPEAK, OKINAWA felt like one big apology to her mother, and was beautiful and is a must read.