![]() ![]() The New York Times called it “a resonant and beautifully nuanced achievement” and USA Today described it as “A gem of a book and one of the most vivid history lessons you’ll ever learn.” It has been assigned to all incoming freshmen at more than 35 colleges and universities and is a regular ‘Community Reads’ selection across the US. When the Emperor Was Divine has been translated into six languages and sold more than 250,000 copies. ![]() The book is based on Otsuka’s own family history: her grandfather was arrested by the FBI as a suspected spy for Japan the day after Pearl Harbor was bombed, and her mother, uncle and grandmother spent three years in an internment camp in Topaz, Utah. It was a New York Times Notable Book, a San Francisco Chronicle Best Book of the Year, and a Barnes & Noble Discover Great New Writers finalist. Her first novel, When the Emperor Was Divine, is about the internment of a Japanese-American family during World War II. She is a recipient of a Guggenheim Fellowship, the Asian American Literary Award, and the American Library Association Alex Award. After studying art as an undergraduate at Yale University she pursued a career as a painter for several years before turning to fiction writing at age 30. Julie Otsuka was born and raised in California. ![]()
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