The Stories We Choose Not To Tell by Kelly Femiko Weiss
Format: Paperback
Source: Sent by author
Publisher: Windy City Publishers
Genres: Historical Fiction
Publication Date: 20th May 2020
Synopsis/Blurb (Taken from Goodreads):
“Hope can come from unlikely places…
Angela is at a crossroads. New life and new death, discovering she is pregnant just as her beloved Obachan, Aiko, passes away. Paralyzed by the gravity of these two events happening at the same time, Angela floats through Aiko’s wake like a ghost.
Unexpectedly, Angela’s Auntie Pamela gifts her a box filled with family heirlooms, including tape recordings of her Obachan describing her time in the Japanese incarceration camps, and journals dating back to the 1970s written by her mother, Judith.
To escape reality, and to grapple with it, Angela throws herself into her family’s history and discovers how little she actually knows about the women closest to her. As she learns the truth of what happened to her family, she decides she needs to make their story more widely known. She zealously throws herself into project mode, leveraging her position as a Chicago TV news producer to create a ground-breaking news piece to make a statement: We cannot let history repeat itself.”
My Thoughts & Review
When I first received an email asking if I was interested in reviewing this book I said yes as it sounded really interesting. However, when it arrived I wasn’t too sure if I would enjoy. But honestly it was an amazing read, and not what I was expecting at all.
This is an original fiction story that is written around real history. I found it really interesting and learnt quite a bit about the Japanese Internment camps. I didn’t even know they existed during World was II. I only ever remember learning about the main concentration camps at Auschwitz.
It’s really well written. I really liked the multiple narrators in the book, and enjoyed reading about how each member of the family were affected over the generations. The book is written with nice short chapters, which makes it such a quick read. While reading I became really invested in the characters and could really connect with them.
This is one book I wouldn’t have minded if it was a little longer, and definitely one I will be re-reading again as I feel there are things that I missed the first time around.
This was definitely a great read and would recommend very much.
Apologies for not going into this book in more detail but I really think it needs to be read in person.
My Rating
💙💙💙💙1/2
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Happy Reading!!!
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