224: Evergreen, with Naomi Hirahara

Dear White Women

If someone talks to me (Sara) about summer reading, honestly, my brain first goes to fiction novels. I love them, and I have been noticing that if they’re particularly well-written, I end up learning a whole lot about humanity. And the book we’re highlighting for you today is just one of those phenomenal book experiences.

We’re excited to bring to you a book set in the era just after World War II and the incarceration of Japanese Americans on American soil. So many books talk about the experiences IN those camps, but we’ve seen very few opportunities for us to all learn about what it was like for people to return to society, to be released with very few possessions and no real home to return to. Naomi Hirahara dives into this period of history in her books Clark and Division, which was set in 1944 Chicago, and its sequel which we’ll focus on today, Evergreen, set in postwar Los Angeles. We highly recommend both of these books - please let us know what you think!

What to listen for:

• Why it was important for author Naomi Hirahara - who writes both fiction and nonfiction books - felt like this topic was best suited for a historical fiction novel

• How her personal experience as a Japanese American played into the storyline

• When you can find her on her book tour for this brand new novel, Evergreen, in 2023!

About the author:

Naomi Hirahara is the Mary Higgins Clark Award–winning author of Clark and Division, and the Edgar Award–winning author of the Mas Arai mystery series, including Summer of the Big Bachi, which was a Publishers Weekly Best Book of the Year and one of the Chicago Tribune's Ten Best Mysteries and Thrillers; Gasa Gasa Girl; Snakeskin Shamisen; and Hiroshima Boy. She is also the author of the LA-based Ellie Rush mysteries. A former editor of The Rafu Shimpo newspaper, she has co-written non-fiction books like Life after Manzanar and the award-winning Terminal Island: Lost Communities of Los Angeles Harbor.