by Richard Wiley - undifferentiated
First published 2011
Teddy Maki and Jimmy Yakamoto play jazz in Tokyo's nightclubs in 1941. These Japanese-American friends find themselves stranded when Pearl Harbor is bombed. The Japanese army drafts them both and ships them to the Philippines to fight American soldiers. Teddy and Jimmy try to stay neutral, but the war forces impossible choices. When Jimmy refuses to execute an American prisoner, the commanding officer kills him and orders Teddy to complete the task. Three decades pass. Teddy has married Jimmy's widow and raised his son. He appears on Japanese television as a celebrity. But Jimmy's death haunts him still. The weight of that moment in the Philippines follows Teddy through his new life, shaping every relationship and every quiet hour when memory returns.
Genres: american-fiction, historical-fiction, 20th-century, military-fiction
Vibes: emotional, intimate, thought-provoking
Tropes: enemies-to-lovers, found-family
Setting: Tokyo, Philippines
Period: 1941, 1970s
226 pages · Paperback · Catapult
Content warnings: death, violence