I found this good-condition softcover at a local thrift shop, and was intrigued. It's an interesting, sometimes heart-wrenching, often touching story about a mixed-culture family and their trials - extending back to the post-war years and through to the current generation.

The viewpoint switches between that of young Helen, age 9, whose mother clearly has serious emotional problems - she locks Helen and her little brother in the closet for hours at a time, claiming she's keeping them safe. Helen's father was a POW in Viet Nam, recently released and suffering some serious post-traumatic stress, which doesn't help matters. Things get so bad that the kids go to live with their father's brother and his wife, and while they're well-cared for there, Helen's still worried about her parents. She writes to her mother's uncle Hideo in Japan, to try and find out more about her mother - and, after much reflection on Hideo's part (he has ghosts of his own to deal with), a trip is arranged. But can it help?

We find out about the suffering of the mixed-race children in Japan after the war, and the effects this has had on Helen's mother and on Hideo as well. And, gradually - and not without effort - the extended family seems as if it might be able to start healing, though there are no magical solutions for the problems they've suffered.

Poignant, intriguing, quite an involving tale.

I left this book in the Little Free Library at around 2; hope the finder enjoys it!

[See other recent releases in NH here.]

*** Released for the 2017 4 Elements release challenge. ***