
Speak, Okinawa
A Memoir
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Narrated by:
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Sachi Lovatt
About this listen
A “hauntingly beautiful memoir about family and identity” (NPR) and a young woman's journey to understanding her complicated parents - her mother an Okinawan war bride, her father a Vietnam veteran - and her own, fraught cultural heritage.
Elizabeth's mother was working as a nightclub hostess on US-occupied Okinawa when she met the American soldier who would become her husband. The language barrier and power imbalance that defined their early relationship followed them to the predominantly white, upstate New York suburb where they moved to raise their only daughter. There, Elizabeth grew up with the trappings of a typical American childhood and adolescence. Yet even though she felt almost no connection to her mother's distant home, she also felt out of place among her peers.
Decades later, Elizabeth comes to recognize the shame and self-loathing that haunt both her and her mother, and attempts a form of reconciliation, not only to come to terms with the embattled dynamics of her family but also to reckon with the injustices that reverberate throughout the history of Okinawa and its people. Clear-eyed and profoundly humane, Speak, Okinawa is a startling accomplishment - a heartfelt exploration of identity, inheritance, forgiveness, and what it means to be an American.
©2021 Elizabeth Miki Brina (P)2021 Random House AudioListeners also enjoyed...
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Critic reviews
One of NPR's Best Books of the Year
“A hauntingly beautiful memoir about family and identity.” (NPR, Here & Now)
“Masterful...Brina’s writing is crisp, captivating, and profound. She is vulnerable, raw, and relatable, and her stories will no doubt cause readers to reflect on their relationships with their own parents. As educational as it is entertaining, Speak, Okinawa is well worth the read.” (The Associated Press)
“A gorgeous literary memoir of inner exploration and the search for identity.” (Good Morning America)
Trying to find yourself
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great story
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I am sorry for all that I didn't know about my heritage until now, and I am deeply grateful for this book.
"One of us"
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Exceptionally good
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The writer jumps back and forth in time, and as a listener it was a bit challenging to stay focused, but the proverbs shared were very clear.
The narrator was also great - she must also be half-Japanese to be able to speak like us!
Really loved this work
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Excellent
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Tears, Laughter and Learning
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I really loved it
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Excellent!!
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One of my favorite books of the year
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