The Buddha in the Attic

The Buddha In The Attic is a delicate and careful treat of a book. It ebbs and flows with a sadness and the collective push-pull of human emotions, as a collective group of Japanese mail order brides immigrate to America and form a loose community of whispers, gossip and cultural ties in San Francisco.

The book starts with their boat journey and moves, in eight spellbinding sections, through the different stages of their collective lives. From working in the field to child-bearing to the murkier edges of Western life to their relationships with their husbands, this is a collection of human spirits vying for attention.

Written in a series of echoes and recollections, the book never labours a point and never judges. Characters come alive in short sentences and then disappear. The stories are heartfelt and heartbreaking in their intensity and communal spirit. A truly wonderful book from a truly gifted writer, this is required reading about the truth behind the American Dream from an immigrant perspective. Almost as perfect as books can come.