Book Summary and Reviews of Daikon by Samuel Hawley

Book Summary

A sweeping and suspenseful novel of love and war, set in Japan during the final days of World War II, with a shocking historical premise: three atomic bombs were actually delivered to the Pacific—not two—and when one of them falls into the hands of the Japanese, the fate of a couple that has been separated from one another becomes entangled with the fate of this terrifying new device.

War has taken everything from physicist Keizo Kan. His young daughter was killed in the Great Tokyo Air Raid, and now his Japanese American wife, Noriko, has been imprisoned by the brutal Thought Police. An American bomber, downed over Japan on the first day of August 1945, offers the scientist a surprising chance at salvation. The Imperial Army dispatches him to examine an unusual device recovered from the plane's wreckage—a bomb containing uranium—and tells him that if he can unlock its mysteries, his wife will be released.

Working in secrecy under crushing pressure, Kan begins to disassemble the bomb and study its components. One of his assistants falls ill after mishandling the uranium, but his alarming deterioration, and Kan's own symptoms, are ignored by the commanding officer demanding results. Desperate to stave off Japan's surrender to the Allies, the army will stop at nothing to harness the weapon's unimaginable power. They order Kan to prepare the bomb for manual detonation over a target—a suicide mission that will strike a devastating blow against the Americans. Kan is soon confronted with a series of agonizing decisions that will test his courage, his loyalty, and his very humanity.

An extraordinary debut novel that is the result of twenty-seven years of work by its author, Daikon is a gripping and powerfully moving saga that calls to mind such classics as Cold Mountain and From Here to Eternity. It is set amid the chaos and despair of the world's third largest city lying in ruins, its population starving and its leadership under escalating assault from without and within. Here is a haunting epic of love, survival, and impossible choices that introduces a singular new voice on the literary landscape.

Please be aware that this discussion guide will contain spoilers!

1. The Prologue is notably different from the rest of Daikon in many ways. Why do you think the author chose to begin with this romantic, nostalgic scene in America? Do you think the desired effect is achieved?
2. Daikon is ultimately a story of homecoming. At the end of the book, Keizo, Noriko, and Yagi all experience coming home or rebuilding home, in different ways. Did you find yourself drawn to one of their stories more than the others?
3. At the end of the book, it is revealed that Aiko's name, which means "child of love," is hidden within "Daikon." A "child of love" nested in a bomb. How is this symbolic of the motivations Keizo has, and the choices he makes, toward the end of the war?
4. Though they are both starkly ...