The Flamboya Tree: Memories of a Mother's Wartime Courage

I love, love, love this book! It's an incredible story of a mother who lost nearly everything in the war except the one thing she fought desperately for: her children. She gave birth to an infant right before being forced into the Japanese internment nightmare, and amazingly, he survived, too. I hope I can be half as amazing for my own kids as this mother was for hers.

I loved this book. It tells a story of courage, bravery, and family. It vividly captures an aspect of WWII that (sadly) is unknown by most people. My grandmother was also a prisoner of war in a Japanese camp in Indonesia and gave birth to my dad while in the camp. They are both gone now and this book helped fill in so many of the details of their story. Thank you Clara Kelly for telling your story, and telling it well.

...It's awesome! I am so thankful to Ms. Kelly for sharing her experience. My Grandmother was also a prisoner of the Japanese in Indonesia during WWII. She had 2 babies (my dad, 6 months, & uncle, 1.5 years). I have heard 'pieces' of my Grandmothers story, but she has never been able to speak of it all. Now I know why. This book is truely a favorite of mine and always will be. Thank you Ms. Kelly. God Bless.

The Flamboya Tree, by Clara Olink Kelly, was very touching.This is a part of history that people should know about. We know about Japan invading Pearl Harbor,and other places, but what we don't know is the people who became effected by the war. Clara tells this story so well, she makes you feel like you are there seeing all the tragic events yourself.This is one book that I would highly recommend to everyone, I think we can learn a great deal from it and have a better understanding of war itself.

We were bowled over by this book! Clara Kelly presents vivid and heart rending images of the heroic acts of her mother to save her children from the devastating conditions in a Japanese concentration camp during WWII. This tribute to her mother also reveals the tenacity of the author and her older brother under unbelievably inhumane conditions. We will read it again.