The book was on my wishlist since 2012.
Bought and registered in Paris, France.

Backcovertext:

Between the wars a group of young, non-English speaking Japanese women travelled by boat to America. They were picture brides, clutching photos of husbands-to-be whom they had yet to meet. Julie Otsuka tells their extraordinary, heart rending story in this spellbinding and poetic account of strangers lost and alone in a new and deeply foreign land.

Back in 2019 I read “When the emperor was divine” (https://www.bookcrossing.com/journal/14486690/)… and I still don’t completely adhere to her writing style, although it’s a particular and effective way to tell the story. In the beginning it just felt confusing.
It is not an easy book to read, due to its themes, such as poverty, shunning and violence. In today’s time, like Otsuka’s other book, it can serve as a warning to what may happen to our empathy if we don’t stay alert.

Passed on to R.