Obasan

Set in Canada, Obasan is a powerful novel that chronicles the internment and persecution of Japanese Canadians during and after the Second World War through the eyes of its protagonist, Naomi Nakane. The story is told by Naomi as a 36-year-old schoolteacher, whose life in rural Alberta is disrupted by the death of her uncle. This event leads her to visit her widowed aunt, Aya, whom she refers to as Obasan (the Japanese word for 'aunt'), and to receive a box of correspondence and journals from her politically active Aunt Emily. These documents and memories force Naomi to confront the traumatic experiences of her childhood: her family becoming 'enemy aliens' after Pearl Harbor, the forced relocation and internment in camps like Slocan, and the loss of her mother, who was separated from the family and died as a result of the atomic bombing in Japan—a secret guarded by the silence of the older generation. The novel intricately weaves together personal and collective histories, exploring profound themes of silence, memory, prejudice, identity, and the long struggle for recognition and justice.

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