In this gripping novel, a man in despair stumbles upon the secrets of
his Japanese father's World War II experiences, and the past that shaped
his family.
Robert Takahashi sits in the empty attic of his mother's old home in
Hawaii, a home he has to sell to cover financial losses from her nursing
home care--and his own massive gambling debts. Once his affairs are in
order, he can proceed to the next step: suicide. His wife is done with
him anyway. His daughters--well, he's nothing but an embarrassment to
them.
Robert barely remembers his father and knows little about his parents'
past. But a manuscript he's just found--left under an eave and contained
in a dusty box along with ten medals from the US military--will
enlighten him about many things. As he reads his father's words, he
discovers a story of a Japanese boy born in Hawaii, a life uprooted by
internment, and a young Nisei's harrowing quest to prove his patriotism
by serving with the renowned 442nd Regimental Combat Team. He also
learns about a long-ago forbidden love--and how prejudice can derail a
life--in this sweeping tale of family, war, and two generations of men
battling powerful forces both externally and within themselves.
