This meticulously researched novel is inspired by the life of Churchill’s grandmother, who, like thousands of Japanese women, married an American serviceman and emigrated to the United States after World War II. With empathy and heart, Churchill portrays the challenges these women faced. Likable and quirky Mineko Cope is a Japanese war bride who struggles to fit into the small Texas community where she’s the only person of Asian heritage. Equally compelling is Mineko’s relationship with her granddaughter Lia, who also feels like an outsider. Churchill ably captures the stings of racism that biracial Lia endures and portrays with sympathy the people of Japan, whose lives, like those of people around the world, were decimated by the war. (Harper, Feb. 20)
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