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Title details for The Translation of Love by Lynne Kutsukake - Available

The Translation of Love

A Novel

by Lynne Kutsukake
Nancy Wu
Audiobook
1 of 1 copy available
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1 of 1 copy available
An emotionally gripping portrait of postwar Japan, where a newly repatriated girl must help a classmate find her missing sisterBorn and raised in Vancouver, thirteen-year-old Aya Shimamura is released from a Canadian internment camp only to be repatriated to Japan with her father, who was faced with an unsettling choice: move east of the Rocky Mountains or go back to Japan. With no hope of restitution and grieving the loss of Aya's mother during internment, her father feels there's nothing left for them in Canada and signs a form that enables the government to deport him.But life in Tokyo is not much better. Aya's father struggles to find work, compromising his morals and toiling long hours. Aya, meanwhile, is something of a pariah at her school, bullied for being foreign and paralyzed when asked to communicate in Japanese. Aya's alienation is eventually mitigated by one of her principal tormentors, a willful girl named Fumi Tanaka, whose older sister has mysteriously disappeared.When a rumor surfaces that Douglas MacArthur, who is overseeing the Allied occupation of Japan, sometimes helps citizens in need, Fumi enlists Aya to compose a letter asking the general to find her beloved sister. The letter is delivered into the reluctant hands of Corporal Matt Matsumoto, a Japanese-American serving with the Occupation forces, whose endless job is translating the thousands of letters MacArthur receives each week. Matt feels an affinity toward Fumi but is largely powerless, and the girls decide to take matters into their own hands, venturing into the dark and dangerous world of Tokyo's red-light district.Told through rich, interlocking storylines, The Translation of Love mines a turbulent period to show how war irrevocably shapes the lives of the conquered—and yet the novel also allows for a poignant spark of resilience, friendship, and love that translates across cultures and borders to stunning effect.

  • Creators

  • Publisher

  • Release date

    April 5, 2016

  • Formats

    • OverDrive Listen audiobook

      • ISBN: 9781504690140
      • File size: 341146 KB
      • Duration: 11:50:43

  • Languages

    • English

  • Reviews

    • Publisher's Weekly

      February 29, 2016
      Kutsukake’s moving debut novel focuses on the intertwining stories of several protagonists in post–World War II Tokyo. Matt, a Japanese-American military man, and Kondo, a middle-school teacher with considerable language skills, both ply their trade by translating letters: Matt for General MacArthur, who has invited the Japanese people to mail him their thoughts, and Kondo on the black market, where he works weekends writing letters for lovelorn women to their G.I. boyfriends. Twelve-year-old Fumi, one of Kondo’s students, finds herself befriending the shunned Aya Shimamura, who was sent to live in Japan after internment with her father in a Canadian camp. Aya’s mother had committed suicide by drowning, and Aya keeps the stones that had been found weighing down her pockets. Fumi is desperate to find her older sister, Sumiko, who left the family to work as a bar girl in order to provide food and medicine for them. With Aya’s strong command of English, Fumi writes to MacArthur to ask him for help with locating Sumiko and bringing her home. The characters further intersect when Fumi asks Matt for help getting the letter to MacArthur. Kutsukake’s story is consistently engaging, though a smattering of unlikely plot points can be distracting. The result is a memorable story of hope and loneliness with a cathartic ending.

    • AudioFile Magazine
      Aya Shimamura, just 13, moves with her father from Canada to Japan in the aftermath of WWII. Nancy Wu delivers this story of friendship and love in a melodic voice with barely audible inflections. Fumi Tanaka, Aya's new friend, asks her to write a letter about her missing sister to General MacArthur, who may be able to help. Later, Fumi and Aya meet Corporal Matt Matsumoto, a Japanese-American who translates letters for the general. As Wu's steady performance drives the story to its conclusion, she differentiates characters with subtle shifts in tone. Overall, Wu's voice acts as a beacon that directs listeners through the tangle of Japanese customs and code of honor. M.B.K. © AudioFile 2016, Portland, Maine

Formats

  • OverDrive Listen audiobook

subjects

Languages

  • English

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