In Walks a Woman S2 E2: Leaving Mothers & Becoming Mothers: Buddha in the Attic by Julia Otsuka
Vanessa and Sonja examine Julie Otuska’s completely original narrative style in her novel, The Buddha in the Attic (2011). Vanessa grabs the historical student-driver wheel along with Sonja’s steady historical expertise to give you the story of Japanese immigration to the United States, the fascinating phenomenon of “Japanese Picture Brides” (OG catfishing?), the journey of women who leave their mothers and families in Japan to a country where they can only snag a foothold when they, the novel’s narrators, become the mothers of American citizens. And then comes the bombing of Pearl Harbor…and all footholds are lost. Buddha is like no other novel that has been written. Why? Because it tries to capture the “kaleidoscopic” (Sonja’s perfect adjective!) of women experiencing sweeping cultural events, women who traditionally have no voices and remain forgotten by history. What if all those women from the past could speak? What if they could all reach out to us from history and share a moment of their life experience? If they could, Julie Otsuka would be their medium, and the themes of motherhood and the cadence of poetry in Buddha would be their book.
THE BUDDHA IN THE ATTIC for purchase from the publisher, Penguin Random House
WHEN THE EMPEROR WAS DIVINE for purchase from publisher, Penguin Random House
Also Referenced in this Episode:
An novel that exemplifies the use of multiple first-person narrators:
WONDER by RJ Palacio, for purchase from the publisher, Penguin Random House
More Info on Japanese art that may be influences: