Books like When the emperor was divine by Julie Otsuka
"When the Emperor was Divine" is Julie Otsuka’s debut novel, a historical fiction portrait of a Japanese‑American family displaced from their California home and sent to an internment camp in the Utah desert during World War II. Told through the perspectives of four siblings and their parents, the narrative captures the family’s forced eviction, the hardships of camp life, and the emotional toll of segregation and loss.
The novel is loosely based on Otsuka’s mother’s wartime experiences and was published in the United States by Alfred A. Knopf in 2002.
First publish date: 2002
Genre: Historical Fiction/20th Century Historical Fiction
Authors: Julie Otsuka
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