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A Novel
by D.K. Furutani
Winner of Simon & Schuster's Books Like Us contest, a gripping, sincere debut novel set across four generations of a Japanese American family living in California's vibrant agricultural heartlands, exploring the sharp edges of inheritance and what it means to truly belong.
Amidst a sweltering Los Angeles heat wave, Murano, a reclusive high school English teacher, is muddling through life. Reeling from his father's sudden death as well as his own recent cancer diagnosis, he passes time hazily grading papers and appeasing disgruntled parents while counting down each day until summer vacation.
The monotony breaks when he inherits his great-uncle Benjiro's unpublished memoir. What Murano expects to be a grim reminder of his position as the half-white son of the family's outcast instead whisks him away to 1930s California, to a time when the Murano family was inseparable, relishing life together on their bucolic farm. As the memoir introduces him to relatives he never knew existed and unearths hidden complexities of the past, Murano is pulled close to the Japanese identity he's dismissed all of his life. Faced with the reality of his family's dissolution, Murano becomes determined to understand its breaking point following their incarceration in American concentration camps during World War II, no matter what hidden truths he might uncover about his ancestors or himself.
Lovingly crafted with poignant and profound attention to historical detail, When Mikan Road Was Ours is a rich meditation on belonging that seamlessly blends the intricacies of heritage, the resilience of family bonds, and the struggle to reconcile a past filled with both heartache and hope.
"In chapters that alternate between the past and present, Furutani immerses readers in the worlds he creates with strong characterizations and sensitivity. Addressing issues such as family, racism, identity, gender roles, classism, and entitlement, Furutani's novel brings much to the table for book groups to discuss. As much of a strong work of historical fiction as a social commentary on the human race, this debut proves that Furutani is a writer to watch." —Library Journal (starred review)
"[An] immersive debut...Furutani excels at breathing life into the historical period...[A] memorable family drama." —Publishers Weekly
"A stirring novel of historical resonance. When Mikan Road Was Ours sets readers on a century-long journey into the wounds and triumphs of a Japanese American family whose story reverberates long after the final pages. Written with remarkable empathy and tireless research, D.K. Furutani's debut presents an important and absorbing portrait with the highest stakes." —Thao Thai, bestselling author of Banyan Moon and The Seekers of Deer Creek
"A kaleidoscopic account of Japanese displacement and resilience, expertly weaving archival material with a nuanced contemporary struggle to find oneself inside of a silenced history. Absorbing, richly researched, and artfully constructed, When Mikan Road Was Ours is a phenomenal debut." —Megan Kamalei Kakimoto, bestselling author of Every Drop is a Man's Nightmare
This information about When Mikan Road Was Ours 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.
Born and raised in Southern California, D.K. Furutani is the author of When Mikan Road Was Ours, winner of Simon & Schuster's third-annual Books Like Us contest. His work has received support from the Periplus Collective and the Tin House workshops. He resides in Los Angeles with his wife and three cats.
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