Obasan [Paperback]

Joy Kogawa's Obasan is a novel of memory, exploring the Canadian government's deplorable treatment of Japanese Canadians during the Second World War, which included the suspension of all rights, forced internment and labour, and the fracturing of families. Worst of all, though, in the eyes of narrator Naomi Nakane as she recalls the events of her childhood, was the repeated exile. In a powerful blend of historical fact and rich symbolism, Naomi finds herself pushed aside from Canadian society and forced to live in ghost towns and abandoned mining camps, places already forsaken by Canadians of European descent who were patriotically and dutifully at war with Germany and Japan. As an adult looking back, she finds her ties to these places seemingly unbreakable.

Obasan opens in 1972 with Naomi, a second-generation schoolteacher, still dealing with the emotional and psychological aftermath of her childhood experience. She recalls the historical events so coldly chronicled in official documents. Letters and journals kept by her aunt, Emily Kato, help colour these recollections, as does her reunion with surviving family members upon her uncle's death. Her uncle's widow, Obasan, the once strong and graceful woman who raised Naomi, is now blind and crippled by age and time. The contrast between her current condition and the memory of her enduring strength becomes the painful but intimately compelling centre of the novel. Obasan is autobiographical; Naomi's experiences mirror Kogawa's own. This fact contributes to the power of Kogawa's prose, but her remarkably poetic writing and eye for image and symbolism are what elevate this deeply moving novel to the status of Canadian classic. --Jonathan Dewar --This text refers to the Mass Market Paperback edition.

"This quiet novel burns in your hand." --Washington Post. --This text refers to an alternate Paperback edition.

This powerful, passionate and highly acclaimed novel tells, through the eyes of a child, the moving story of Japanese Canadians during the Second World War.

Naomi is a sheltered and beloved five-year-old when the attack on Pearl Harbor changes her life. Separated from her mother, she watches bewildered as she and her family become enemy aliens, persecuted and despised in their own land.

Surrounded by hardship and pain, Naomi is protected by the reso-lute endurance of her aunt, Obasan, and the silence of those around her. Only after Naomi grows up does she return to question that haunting silence.

Based on the author's own experiences, this award-winning novel was the first to tell the story of the evacuation, relocation, and dispersal of Canadian citizens of Japanese ancestry during the Second World War. "This quiet novel burns in your hand." --Washington Post. --This text refers to an alternate Paperback edition.

Naomi is 5 years old when Pearl Harbour changes her life. Separated from her mother and her father, she watches bewildered as she and her Canadian-born family become enemy aliens. First, she and her brother are moved from their comfortable home in Vancouver to an abandoned mining town in the interior of British Columbia. Later, they are transferred to a farm in Alberta. Surrounded by hardship and pain, Naomi is protected by the resolute endurance of her aunt, Obasan, and the silence of those around her. --This text refers to the Audio Cassette edition.

Joy Kogawa was born in Vancouver in 1935. She is a recipient of numerous honorary doctorates and national and international awards. Her books include five volumes of poetry, one children's book—Naomi's Road—and two other novels, Obasan and The Rain Ascends. Joy Kogawa was named a member of the Order of Canada in 1986.