Requiem

“Remarkable . . . Requiem delicately probes the complex adjustments we make to live with our sorrows. . . . [A] perfectly modulated novel.”—*The Washington Post * An extraordinary researcher and scholar of detail, Frances Itani—author of the best-selling novel Deafening —excels at weaving breathtaking fiction from true-life events. In her new novel, she traces the lives, loves, and secrets in one Japanese-Canadian family during and after their internment in the 1940s. In 1942, in retaliation for the attack on Pearl Harbor, the Canadian government removed Bin OkumaвЂTMs family from their home on British ColumbiaвЂTMs west coast and forced them into internment camps. They were allowed to take only the possessions they could carry, and Bin, as a young boy, was forced to watch neighbors raid his familyвЂTMs home before the transport boats even undocked. One hundred miles from the “Protected Zone,” they had to form new makeshift communities without direct access to electricity, plumbing, or food—for five years. Fifty years later, after his wifeвЂTMs sudden death, Bin travels across Canada to find the biological father who has been lost to him. Both running from grief and driving straight toward it, Bin must ask himself whether he truly wants to find First Father, the man who made a fateful decision that almost destroyed his family all those years ago. With his wifeвЂTMs persuasive voice in his head and the echo of their love in his heart, Bin embarks on an unforgettable journey into his past that will throw light on a dark time in history. Review "Remarkable . . . Understated . . . Requiem delicately probes the complex adjustments we make to live with our sorrows. . . . In this perfectly modulated novel, we see the emotional cost of suppression."— The Washington Post "Itani writes with a delicate grasp of both the obvious and the unspoken, using ordinary words charged with extraordinary meaning to produce a serious book that nevertheless invites you to keep reading past midnight."— BookPage "In Requiem , Frances Itani is at the height of her powers. . . . The Japanese-Canadian story has never been told with such passion, insight and telling detail. . . . Itani has told this story in amazing, cinematic detail. . . . [Requiem] is surely ItaniвЂTMs greatest novel, although calling Requiem a novel does not do it justice. Requiem is a great work of literature from a determined author at the peak of her powers. It is also a sobering history lesson for all those Canadians who belittle other countries for their racism but are too smug and too blind to examine their own nationвЂTMs transgressions."— The Ottawa Citizen "With Requiem , Itani has written an important and moving novel . . . told with painful and quiet eloquence."— Washington Independent Book Review “Itani is an accomplished stylist; her prose is lyrical yet clear, her pace unhurried. . . . ItaniвЂTMs empathy and understanding of human nature enliven her characters. . . . In this finely written, reflective novel, BinвЂTMs physical journey and mindful recollections lead him to a place where he can choose to either hold onto his anger or make peace with his ghosts.”— The Globe and Mail "An undeniably respectful and moving homage to a shameful factual episode."— Kirkus Reviews "Beautifully rendered . . . Both tribute and a wail of grief . . . Lyrical and undulating, Requiem rages too."— Telegraph-Journal "An evocative and cinematic tale . . . Poignantly, the story's determined brush strokes speak of quiet perseverance, underscoring the sense of loss, of talent suspended. . . . With a precise, elegant style Itani avoids the maudlin, and delivers a taut novel."— Maclean's "A beautiful, slow, meandering read that explores the past of Japanese Canadians in a particularly resonant way."— The Globe and Mail (Favorite Book of the Year) About the Author Frances Itani is the author of two other novels: the bestselling Deafening , winner of the Commonwealth WritersвЂTM Prize for Best Book (Canada and Caribbean Region) and the Drummer GeneralвЂTMs Award, and shortlisted for the International IMPAC Dublin Literary Award; and Remembering the Bones , shortlisted for a Commonwealth WritersвЂTM Prize. She has also written two collections of short fiction: Leaning, Leaning Over Water and Poached Egg on Toast . Bin Okuma, a celebrated visual artist, has recently and quite suddenly lost his wife, Lena. He and his son Greg are left to deal with the shock. But Greg has returned to his studies on the east coast, and Bin finds himself alone. His deep grief draws him into memories he has avoided for much of his life: the uprooting of his Japanese Canadian family from the west coast of British Columbia during the Second World War. Now, he sets out to drive across the country, to revisit the places that have shaped him, to find his First Father who has been lost to him. Years ago, his father made a fateful decision that severed the bonds of his family. Running from grief, Bin must ask himself whether he really wants to find his father or whether his bitterness will separate them forever. Requiem is a stunning and graceful novel, a story of family secrets, racial strife, birth and death, and the saving grace of art. During World War II, Canada interned citizens of Japanese descent, just as the United States did. Here, Itani recaptures history through fiction by imagining the story of young Bin Okuma and his family, who were transported from their British Columbia home to a desolate area 100 miles from the "Protected Zone" and only grudgingly given access to food, plumbing, and electricity. Fifty years later, after his wife dies, Bin returns to the area, hoping to find the father whose awful decision at the time nearly destroyed the family. When celebrated visual artist Bin Okuma loses his wife Lena, he sets out to drive across Canada: to complete the last works needed for an upcoming exhibition; to revisit the places that have shaped him; to find his biological father, who has been lost to him.