The Buddha in the Attic is Julie Otsuka's seminal work. She tells the oft unspoken stories of an entire generation of nearly anonymous Japanese woman who agreed to marry Japanese-American men and move to California without ever having met them. These women are married, have children, work hard, and still are not considered equals in their new culture. They struggle to adapt to America, longing for their native traditions which are not very welcome here. After Pearl Harbor circumstances degrade quickly. They are ostracized on the streets and shunned by businesses. Finally the government comes in the night to carry off all Japanese-Americans to secret camps where they will remain until the end of the war under suspicion of treason.
Although the stories of these camps are told to some extent in school curriculums today, very little literature about the actual lives of these people exists. Otsuka's book is profoundly impactful because she doesn't attempt to tell an individual, personal story but one of an entire generation. She speaks for all the brides as a group, giving each one an anonymous platform to tell her story and her sisters' stories. The real power of this narrative is its detachment; readers are given a hundred different perspectives at a glance.
Otsuka writes in simple language, lending a certain grace and sincerity to her succinctness. She allows the women she's writing about a tremendous measure of dignity by acknowledging the variety of their experiences, while still constructing a single cohesive narrative. While one voice makes an impact, all of them together defy all denial. This book is heartbreaking because of its cruel ending, but readers must remember that these are true events. These women were real. They are our ancestors. And the traditions which they hoped so desperately to preserve are still important to our culture today.
