Books, Fiction

Ford, Jamie. Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet: A Novel. New York: Ballantine Books, 2009.

Set in the ethnic neighborhoods of Seattle during World War II and Japanese American internment camps of the era, this novel tells the heartwarming story of widower Henry Lee, his father, and his first love Keiko Okabe.  The plot has many layers, and gives us an honest portrayal of both the sentiments and dealings that were pervasive in the years after Pearl Harbor.

 F FOR

See, Lisa. China Dolls: A Novel. 2014.

In 1938, Ruby, Helen and Grace, three girls from very different backgrounds, find themselves competing at the same audition for showgirl roles at a San Francisco's exclusive "Oriental" nightclub. As both her friends know, Ruby is Japanese passing as Chinese.  Everything changes with the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor. Suddenly the government is sending innocent Japanese to internment camps under suspicion, and Ruby is one of them. But which of her friends betrayed her?

F SEE

Ziegler, Richard, and Patrick M. Patterson. Red Sun: The Invasion of Hawai'i After Pearl Harbor. Honolulu: Bess Press, 2001.

An alternate version of WWII and future American history if the December 7, 1941 bombing of Pearl Harbor had gone differently.  What if a successful invasion of the island of Oahu had been carried out in the aftermath of destruction?   The story covers the reestablishment of the Hawaiian monarchy, and the imprisonment of thousands of Americans in POW camps.

HAW F ZIE