Naomi Hirahara, Clark and Division, Soho Crime 2021
First line: Rose was always there, even when I was being born.
I’ve had my eye on this crime novel for a while, because it uses the mystery genre to explore an under-represented part of American history: the internment of over 100,000 Japanese Americans after the 1941 bombing of Pearl Harbour, and the long-lasting impact this had on their communities and lives.
The novel is narrated by Aki Ito, born in the States to Japanese first-generation immigrants — the ‘Issei’. She and her charismatic sister Rose are of the ‘Nisei’, the ‘second generation’, and are raised in reasonably stable and prosperous circumstances in California. Until Pearl Harbour, that is, when they are interned in the Manzanar camp and then relocated to Chicago, where they settle in the Japanese district.
Rose was allowed to move to the city before the rest of the family, and when Aki and her parents arrive they’re given terrible news: Rose has been killed by a train at the Clark & Division subway station. The family’s grief takes different forms – in Aki’s case, it means talking to those who knew Rose best in order to figure out what actually happened – was it suicide, an accident, or murder?
Clark and Division is a well-crafted and absorbing standalone with a great sense of place, and I really liked the insights it gave into Japanese culture and the lives of Japanese-Americans at a turbulent moment in history. The author, Naomi Hirahara, has written non-fiction books on the subject, so she really knows her stuff — and for the most part manages to integrate it well. The novel is also a life-affirming coming-of-age story, as we follow Aki from childhood through to adulthood, learning to shoulder extra responsibilities in the wake of her sister’s death, but also to find her own path.
I hope you’re all as OK as you can be given the current political situation. Reading can be a real boon in times like these, so here’s a link to my earlier post on ‘Respite Crime’. Look after yourselves!
Mrs. Peabody Investigates 
Yes, right now we need to take care of ourselves and each other, Mrs. P. I hope you’re holding up… In the meantime, books are a balm, and I’m glad you’ve reminded me of this one. It’s been on my wish list, and I really need to move it up to the, ‘I mean it! I’m getting this book!’ list.
Absolutely, Margot – I hope you’re doing OK too. This one had been on my list for ages as well, and I’m very glad to have read it. It looks at all sorts of aspects of Japanese-American experience at the time, and is very insightful in particular about how first- and second-generation attitudes and experiences vary.