Bridge of Scarlet Leaves

Bridge of Scarlet Leaves

Kristina McMorris

Genre: Historical Fiction

Summary (from the publisher):   Los Angeles, 1941. Violinist Maddie Kern's life seemed destined to unfold with the predictable elegance of a Bach concerto. Then she fell in love with Lane Moritomo. Her brother's best friend, Lane is the handsome, ambitious son of Japanese immigrants. Maddie was prepared for disapproval from their families, but when Pearl Harbor is bombed the day after she and Lane elope, the full force of their decision becomes apparent. In the eyes of a fearful nation, Lane is no longer just an outsider, but an enemy.

When her husband is interned at a war relocation camp, Maddie follows, sacrificing her Juilliard ambitions. Behind barbed wire, tension simmers and the line between patriot and traitor blurs. As Maddie strives for the hard-won acceptance of her new family, Lane risks everything to prove his allegiance to America, at tremendous cost.


Review: Yes, I'm reviewing another book about internment camps during WWII.  I seem to be on a bit of a WWII kick lately.

This book was unique in that it told the story of a Caucasian women who refused to leave her Japanese husband, and so moved into an interment camp with his family.  It was beautifully written, although I was a little distracted by the 1940's era slang.  The characters were well developed and grew throughout the novel.  The author provided a lot of historical details about life in the camps, battles in the Pacific, and POW camps.  I can't speak to how accurate the history was, but the author made the scenes come to life.

It would make a good book club book, if you haven't recently read "Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet".

Sorry this isn't as descriptive as most of my reviews, but Amelia wants to use the computer to play a game, and I finished the book 10 days ago, and I guess I don't remember as much about it as I thought!

Rating: 4 stars