First published 1993
Five-year-old Emile arrives in Brazil in 1925 with his Japanese Christian family, part of an idealistic group seeking to establish communities where their faith and heritage can thrive together. The families clear land, build settlements, and work toward self-sufficiency in their new world. But their utopian vision faces harsh realities. Emile grows up witnessing the community's struggles as visionary leader Kantaro's ambitious projects from baseball teams to chicken farms create unexpected problems. World War tensions split the settlers into bitter factions, leading to the murder of one of the original founders. Passionate love affairs disrupt relationships, while the younger generation increasingly assimilates with their Brazilian neighbors. Through the voices of Emile, Haru, Kantaro, and Genji, the story reveals how even the most well-intentioned communities carry the seeds of their own transformation. The emigrants' children grow up caught between worlds, gaining practical knowledge of their new country while losing connection to the old.
Genres: literary-fiction, family-life, historical-fiction, 20th-century
Vibes: atmospheric, intimate, thought-provoking
Tropes: fish-out-of-water, found-family
Setting: Brazil
Period: 1925, World War
248 pages · Paperback · Coffee House Press