The Turtle House by Amanda Churchill, 296 pages
In 1999 Texas, architect Lia Cope has hit a wall with her career and moved back home, where she shares a room with her grandmother, Mineko. Mineko recently moved in with her son and daughter-in-law after her house burned down. The forced proximity of Lia and Mineko has led to bonding, as Lia records Mineko's stories from her youth in Japan through her immigration to the United States. But when Mineko is forced to live in a senior living facility, the pair plots a course to recreate the titular Turtle House, a long-lost beloved place for Mineko.
While the stories of Mineko's life in Japan, and as a WWII Japanese bride for an American soldier, are fascinating and engrossing, the more modern elements, particularly Lia's tale of college and the run-up to her return home, falls a little flat in comparison. I kind of wish it had simply been a historical fiction story of Mineko without Lia's involvement. Oh well.
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