Title | Garden of Stones |
Author | Teeradet Chuenpraphanusorn |
Page | 89-90 |
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The famous novel named “Garden of Stones”, is the last historical fictional novel by Sophie Littlefield. The author tries to answer the secret question that has appeared in prior novels; “If you are the mother of a beautiful girl, how far will you go as a mother to keep your child safe from harm ?
This novel takes place during World War II after the Japanese Army bombed Pearl Harbor in 1941. The author creates a mysteriously moving account of the internment of Japanese-Americans. The story focus is on one Japanese family, living in America and are American citizen. The main character is the beautiful mother “Miyako Takeda” and her teenage daughter Lucy, who are only two people of the thousands of innocent Americans compulsorily detained in prison camps due to their Japanese ancestry. The author tries to explain that every part of the world was affected from the chaos of World War II .
The story begins thirty years later, one American soldier, was found
murdered in a camp. It’s a mystery and a source of terrible concern for Patty, Lucy’s daughter, when her mother is implicated in this situation. The story moves from one point of view to another by the ripple effects that flow through generations. Fast forward to 1978 and Lucy's daughter Patty is affected by her family’s history. It can be said that the social conflicts between the nations also influences the psychological conflicts of the people as individuals. So, Patty focuses on her mother's past and the painful secret history and experiences of violence from World War II., But the fear and the pain still lives inside her mother’s mind from the past until the current time such as Lucy’s silence and loneliness. The author uses flashbacks to reveal the harrowing experiences of two people living in the poorly constructed and under resourced
Japanese internment camp in America. It is unbelievably shocking situation and reason of why Miyako's desperate act to keep her daughter safe. I believe that the reader should not pass judgment but itis beyond distressing that one gentle mother feels she was left with no choice but the one she selects.
This novel by Sophie Littlefield shows the reader the inside of the human mind (dark and bright), especially, the real love of a strong mother like Miyako Takeda, who sacrifices and survives the unfathomable cost of fear and social prejudice on innocent people. Finally, it can be said that this novel offers an extremely important value in teaching the psychology of personality or moral quotient that transfers from the wonderful characters such as Miyako Takeda, Lucy and Patty in the form of an intriguing storyline. The reviewer believes that Garden of Stones is a heartbreaking, charming and emotional novel of struggle and existence whose bittersweet ending haunts you long after putting the book down.
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