One morning in Toronto, Cathy Matsumoto’s father, Yasuo, calls to announce he intends to visit a dying cousin in Victoria.
Cathy’s never heard of this mysterious relative before, but she begrudgingly agrees to plan a cross-country family trip. It's only in British Columbia that Cathy learns this “cousin” is actually Yas’s younger brother, Stum, who’s been languishing in psychiatric care for decades, abandoned, ever since Yas committed him to Essondale Asylum before World War Two, inadvertently sparing Stum from the atrocities of the Japanese Canadian internment camps.
Yas tries to fend off probing questions from his daughter, but revisiting old haunts stirs up memories of the brothers’ boyhood rivalry and coming-of-age near Victoria’s Chinatown, when Yas’s steely resolve to hold their fractured family together clashed against Stum’s troublesome turn toward a life of gambling, crime, and consorting with prostitutes.
In this stirring multigenerational saga, two brothers, both old men not far from death, must at last confront long-buried family secrets — and their lingering effects on subsequent generations.
“In Leslie Shimotakahara’s The Breakwater, the scars of Japanese internment mixed with long held family secrets make for an enthralling, captivating story. Expertly told, the novel speaks to what we search for at the end of our lives, what we strive to fix, the chapters we’ve hidden from others, and most devastating of all, the self-deceptions that have sheltered us from our personal guilt.”
– Rajinderpal S. Pal, author of However Far Away
“The Breakwater provides insight into day-to-day struggles and sibling relationships of a Japanese Canadian family prior to the Second World War. However, the impact of the internment and forced dispersal forever altered the lives of innocent citizens with devastating effects, creating long-term family separations. Stories like The Breakwater provide an important historical Canadian context for minority groups by vividly exploring the effects of the racism and unjust government actions.”
– Art Miki, author of Gaman - Perseverance: Japanese Canadians’ Journey to Justice, winner of the Canada-Japan Literary Prize
“Leslie Shimotakahara shines a light on a shameful and complex time in Canadian history and explores the personal impacts of the Japanese Canadian experience during World War II and the generational trauma that follows when people are forced into impossible situations. The novel’s complex themes of survival, family, and sacrifice are further enriched by points of view from several characters. Each veritable account adds pieces to a larger family puzzle that comes together to reveal unsettling secrets, buried passions, and the lingering generational tensions that inevitably follow. Shimotakahara’s brilliant use of understated prose perfectly captures the depth and poignant realities of her principal characters and immerses readers in a page-turning read.”
– Ann Y.K. Choi, author of All Things Under the Moon and Kay’s Lucky Coin Variety, finalist for the Toronto Book Award
“A vivid, earthy tale of two brothers whose lives are sundered by love, lust, and the need to simply survive. Shimotakahara takes us from the seedy back alleys of pre-war Little Tokyo and Chinatown, where gangsters, swindlers and madams meet, to the tumble-down shacks of an internment camp. All along, she immerses us in the rueful memories of her misbegotten souls.”
– Kerri Sakamoto, author of Floating City and The Electrical Field, finalist for Governor General’s Literary Award
“The Breakwater is beautifully written in delicate prose about a period in Canadian history that needs to be remembered. It shines a light on the long-term effects of the internment and dispersal of Japanese citizens in Canada. The story examines how internment influenced the struggles and relationships within one family, and how these struggles did not end with government compensation payments, which arrived many decades later. Told from multiple points of view, the story builds tension as love is mixed with misunderstandings and miscommunication, leading to longstanding rifts in the family. A moving and compelling read, this novel will appeal to readers who enjoy complex family stories. I recommend this as a great read.”
– The Seaboard Review
