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The Translation of Love
The Translation of Love | Lynne Kutsukake
20 posts | 12 read | 27 to read
An emotionally gripping portrait of postwar Japan, where a newly repatriated girl must help a classmate find her missing sister After spending the war years in a Canadian internment camp, thirteen-year-old Aya Shimamura and her father are faced with a gut-wrenching choice: move east of theRocky Mountains or go back to Japan. Barredfrom returning home to the West Coast and bitterly grieving the loss of Aya s mother duringinternment, Aya s father signs a form that enables the government to deport them. But war-devastated Tokyo is not much better. Aya s father struggles to find work, compromising his morals and toiling long hours. Meanwhile, Aya, born and raised in Vancouver, 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 tormenters, a willful girl named Fumi Tanaka, whose older sister has mysteriously disappeared. When a rumor surfaces that General MacArthur, who is overseeing the Occupation, might help citizens in need, Fumi enlists Aya to compose a letter asking him 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 receiveseach week. Although Matt feels an affinity with Fumi, he is largely powerless, and the girls decide to take matters into their own hands, venturing into the dark and dangerous underside of Tokyo s Ginza district. Told through rich, interlocking story lines, "The Translation of Love" mines this turbulent period to show how war irrevocably shapes the lives of people on both sides and yet the novel also allows for a poignant spark of resilience, friendship, and love that translates across cultures and borders to stunning effect. "
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Fantasyfan
The Translation of Love | Lynne Kutsukake
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Started this today. It‘s good so far. I have read a lot of WWII this year but not anything from the viewpoint of occupied Japan after the war.

21 likes5 stack adds
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KassKho
The Translation of Love | Lynne Kutsukake
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Pickpick

I've started a lot of books since the new year, but this is the first one I finished! A really lovely story about a cast of people during the U.S's occupation of Japan. The story deals a lot with identity. What does it mean to be Japanese? To be a Japanese American? Where do you belong? What do you do to fit into this changing society? It'll my only complaint is it finishes off to perfectly. Captured in the back is my baby!

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KassKho
The Translation of Love | Lynne Kutsukake
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This. I grew up thinking Canada was the nicest country in the world and wasn't until I started university that I questioned that fact. I try to ignore the "were the nice guys from the north" trope and face it's problematic relationships with racism.Reading this paragraph I couldn't help thinking this author was right there with me!

Jenshootsweddings I think every country has a brutal past! The American and I discuss this all the time with the recent issues in the U.S. I feel thankful to be Canadian, but when you take a close look things aren't perfect at home either. 8y
KassKho @Jenshootsweddings it's really interesting when you study the same war but different countries. Everyone has a different story to tell because of it. I just travelled through parts of Asia and was visiting museums in Hong Kong, South Korea and Japan. They each spoke about so differently, it was like they weren't even talking about the same time! Happens to me now when read books about those places. 8y
6 likes2 comments
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KassKho
The Translation of Love | Lynne Kutsukake
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A very thoughtful passage. I grew up with parents who always told me to ignore the homeless people we passed and it always felt so wrong. We're all people and we all deserve decency and respect.

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KassKho
The Translation of Love | Lynne Kutsukake
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I signed up for a committee at work to pick one book as our staff pick. I have 5 books I need to read in the next week! Wish me luck! This one definitely had the best cover!

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mrldg
The Translation of Love | Lynne Kutsukake

Fire Flowers (Ben Byrne) led me to listen to this one. Fascinating stories of repatriation.

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Cinfhen
The Translation of Love | Lynne Kutsukake
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#somethingforsept #setinasia #septphotochallenge I went through a phase where I was ONLY reading historical fiction and books set in Asia were some of my favorites! I really enjoy learning about other cultures, customs and the history of countries and cities through reading.

RealLifeReading How is Three Souls? 8y
Cinfhen @RealLifeReading Three Souls was excellent! The author did an incredible job of conveying time and place, setting was 1930's China and traces the main characters teenage years through her mid thirties and chronicles the choices she makes. 8y
26 likes2 comments
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Alisnazzy
The Translation of Love | Lynne Kutsukake
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Pickpick

What a wonderful novel. It's told from differing points-of-view (a style of writing I'm enjoying more and more). This facilitates the reader's involvement with each differing character's experience in post-WW2 Japan. Well written and an enjoyable read, despite some of the painful historical realities. 4.5🌟

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Alisnazzy
The Translation of Love | Lynne Kutsukake
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Same.
He would fit right in here at Litsy.

Texreader Yep 8y
85 likes1 stack add1 comment
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Alisnazzy
The Translation of Love | Lynne Kutsukake

Same.
He would fit right in here at Litsy.

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Alisnazzy
The Translation of Love | Lynne Kutsukake
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I love NY. Reading with the windows open, letting the autumnal breeze float in. Perfection. (And yes there is another book tower 😅)

LeahBergen They're breeding!! 😮 8y
katedensen The weather is gorgeous today! 8y
JulieAnn Autumnal breeze? I'm not sure I know what that is. Weather app says it feels like 97 here today. Very envious. 🙂 8y
See All 9 Comments
Hooked_on_books If you're anything like me, you soon won't be able to see the table at all for the many book towers. 😂 8y
Alisnazzy @JulieAnn I live in south Florida so I know how that goes. I'm visiting my mother-in-law for a while and I don't ever want to leave. I love this weather so much. 8y
JulieAnn @Ambrosnazzy My sister lives in CT. I can't wait to go visit her again and actually see a different season from just summer and second summer and third summer. We live in South Louisiana so pretty much just hot or warm all year long. Ugh! Enjoy your stay and all your lovely books and gorgeous weather!!! 8y
Zelma @Ambrosnazzy your books seems to be as active as rabbits! 👍 8y
Zelma @JulieAnn I feel your pain! I'm in south Louisiana too (St. Martinville). Where are you? Did you do ok in the flood? 8y
JulieAnn @Zelma we are in Lafayette and we made it. It was a very close call. Over half my neighborhood flooded but we were very lucky. How about you guys? Did y'all make it through ok? We haven't been here very long so I'm not the familiar with the surrounding areas yet. Originally from Mobile, Alabama. 8y
109 likes1 stack add9 comments
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Shay
The Translation of Love | Lynne Kutsukake
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Using my trip to Vancouver Island as a chance to pick up some Canadian lit.

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erinnhill
Translation of Love | Lynne Kutsukake
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For the first few chapters I wasn't sure how much I was going to like this, but I'm 60 pages in now and it's starting to get to me! I'm sure it will be even more powerful and impactful as the pages go on. I'm excited to continue...

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strikingthirteen
The Translation of Love | Lynne Kutsukake
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Pickpick

Spent a good chunk of my long weekend at the cottage with this! Fabulous story about Japanese and Canadian identity, love in different forms, and navigating meaning. Definitely suggesting this for book club.

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MusingsOnMidlife
The Translation of Love | Lynne Kutsukake
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This pretty pretty ARC arrived from the publisher, Doubleday/Penguin Random House, today! Looking forward to reading this!

ShelfofUnreadBooks Sounds really interesting! When's it due out? 9y
8 likes1 stack add1 comment
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shawnmooney
The Translation of Love | Lynne Kutsukake
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The cover is eye-catching, and a novel about a Japanese-Canadian girl, back in Tokyo to search for her missing sister in the aftermath of Japan's defeat in WWII after having been interred in a Canadian prison camp: W H E E L H O U S E !!!

12 likes5 stack adds
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Rhondareads
The Translation of Love | Lynne Kutsukake
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Rhondareads A mystery a coming of age story a country in transition after the war. 9y
Rhondareads A beautifully written very sad book about life in Japan after WW11 Two young girls forge a friendship under very sad circumstances .Letters written to General MacArthur asking for help in finding a missing sister a tale that weaves through life in Japan an emotional read. 9y
4 likes2 stack adds2 comments
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Rhondareads
The Translation of Love | Lynne Kutsukake
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Rhondareads So excited to read this. 9y
7 likes1 comment
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ChatterBox
The Translation of Love | Lynne Kutsukake
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Absolutely stunning. Set in post-WWII Japan, this debut novel follows the intersecting storylines surrounding one young girl's desperate search for her missing sister. So incredibly moving #ChatterBox

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