Critics' Opinion:
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Published Apr 2016
336 pages
Genre: Literary Fiction
Publication Information
An emotionally gripping portrait of post-war 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 the Rocky Mountains or go "back" to Japan. Barred from returning home to the west coast and bitterly grieving the loss of Aya's mother during internment, 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 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 underside of Tokyo's Ginza district.
Told through rich, interlocking storylines, 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.
"Starred Review. Kutsukake skillfully weaves these characters' varied perspectives together to create a vivid and memorable account of ordinary people struggling to recover from the devastations of war." - Booklist
"Starred Review. Through this coming-of-age tale Japanese Canadian Kutsukake, a former librarian, offers a fresh perspective on life in postwar Japan. An excellent choice for readers who loved Jamie Ford's The Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet." - Library Journal
"Starred Review. A vivid delight chronicling a fascinating—and little-discussed—chapter in world history."- Kirkus Reviews
"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. " - Publishers Weekly
"Kutsukake is an accomplished writer, adroitly handling the dark effects of discrimination, hunger, poverty, and disease after the war...[A]n engaging and compelling read." - Asian Review of Books
"An evocative and compelling tale of friendship, family and a country in transition. Lynne Kutsukake's novel is an elegantly crafted reminder that no one is left untouched by the ripple effects of war, and that our quests for outside truths can often lead us to secrets we've been keeping from ourselves."
- Sarah Bird, author of Above the East China Sea
"From the desperate clutch of friendship in the time of tumult, to the bustling night markets and brothels--every brutal, moving moment is beautifully wrought in Lynne Kutsukake's expert hands. An incredible debut." - Lisa Gabriele, author of Tempting Faith DiNapoli and The Almost Archer Sisters
"Lynne Kutsukake is a beautiful writer. The Translation of Love is shaped by her spare and elegant prose into an accomplished and powerful story."
- Helen Humphreys, author of Coventry
"In clear, confident prose, Lynne Kutsukake examines the lives of people who have been affected by the horrors of war and who must now navigate a new world order. In doing so, she explores the complexities of the human heart and the universal need to belong. A must-read, a strong and impressive debut." - Judy Fong Bates, author of Midnight at the Dragon Café
"This beautiful and mesmerizing book will be a special treat for anyone who loves dramatic history and ingenious storytelling." - Kyo Maclear, author of The Letter Opener
This information about The Translation of Love was first featured
in "The BookBrowse Review" - BookBrowse's membership magazine, and in our weekly "Publishing This Week" newsletter. Publication information is for the USA, and (unless stated otherwise) represents the first print edition. The reviews are necessarily limited to those that were available to us ahead of publication. If you are the publisher or author and feel that they do not properly reflect the range of media opinion now available, send us a message with the mainstream reviews that you would like to see added.
Any "Author Information" displayed below reflects the author's biography at the time this particular book was published.
A third-generation Japanese Canadian, Lynne Kutsukake worked for many years as a librarian at the University of Toronto, specializing in Japanese materials. Her short fiction has appeared in The Dalhousie Review, Grain, The Windsor Review, Ricepaper, and Prairie Fire. This is her first novel.
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