I thought this book was superb in layout, design, and of course, the somewhat based on true life story. Margaret Dilloway is the daughter of a Japanese woman who married a GI during WWII and emmigrated to America. Some of the stories are true, and some are fiction, but the book over all is a tribute to her mother whose radiation weakened heart had problems that caused her death by the time the author was 20.

The story is split into two parts: The Mother, " I had always been a disobedient girl"; and The Daughter, "I had always been an obedient girl." The only reason I didn't give this book ten stars is because Dilloway appears to have had an easier time writing about her mother than about the fictional character based on herself. The book is great overall, but the first half is a little stronger than the second.

I don't know if this was done on purpose, but I think the cover really speaks to the plight of women who leave their home countries to become American wives. Stereotypes without a face trying to ride the line between blending in and keeping a sense of self.