East and West

A story of two families, one japanese and the other American, against the backdrop of pre-WW2, WW2 and a short post war period. Without seeming to take sides, the story takes the reader from Japan to the US and the Pacific Theater. We meet the young couple. He is a young Japanese academic and she is the total california blonde. From there, we read as they struggle, love, fight and find redemption...while Mr Green weaves other characters in and out, no less compelling. A good read. NOT history verbatim by any means, but good enough for me to say " and then what happened to them ? "

I bought this book many years ago when it first came out and it was one of the best books I have ever read. It tells the story of families in both Japan and the U.S. being affected by the war. I'll never forget reading the chapters about the detention camps for ALL people of Asian descent, not just Japanese. Many were American born Chinese,Japanese,Korean,etc. The love story of Julie and Kenji survives even when together at the camp. A wonderful book if you can find it!