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  • Obasan

  • Written by: Joy Kogawa
  • Narrated by: Mary Ito
  • Length: 9 hrs and 29 mins
  • 4.6 out of 5 stars (44 ratings)

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Obasan cover art

Obasan

Written by: Joy Kogawa
Narrated by: Mary Ito
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Publisher's Summary

A powerful and passionate novel, Obasan tells, through the eyes of a child, the moving story of Japanese Canadians during the Second World War.

Naomi is a sheltered and beloved five-year-old when Pearl Harbor changes her life. Separated from her mother, she watches bewildered as she and her family become enemy aliens, persecuted and despised in their own land.

Surrounded by hardship and pain, Naomi is protected by the resolute endurance of her aunt Obasan and the silence of those around her. Only after Naomi grows up does she return to question the haunting silence.
©1981 Joy Kogawa (P)2019 Penguin Random House Canada
Historical Fiction World Literature Literary Fiction
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What the critics say

“An internationally acclaimed, widely studied novel firmly entrenched in the Canadian literary canon.” (Kerri Sakamoto)

What listeners say about Obasan

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Profile Image for Britanya

it made me feel some type of way

it made me sad to know how bad your own country can turn on you at any time

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Profile Image for Meghann Hubert

I didn’t know!

I’m ashamed I didn’t know this history about Canada. I’m so glad to have found this book. It was such an intimate first hand story of one families experience of the Japanese internment and displacement in Canada during the Second World War. Read this book!!! Your heart will be touched by the thoughtful detail and first hand experiences.

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Profile Image for Shelley Tkachyk

hard read but hits some great historical truths

loved that it explored about how some Japanese were treated during the war. Her description of the Hiroshima bomb was accurate and sad. but her going into how she felt broke up the flow and made you wonder what is going on. overall not bad

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