The Inheritors by Asako Serizawa

Available July 14, 2020

The Inheritors is a beautifully written collection of connected short stories centered around a family through multiple generations and countries. Told from multiple perspectives, each with a distinct voice and style, The Inheritors is a fascinating look at how our actions can have an impact on future generations. Much of the book centers around the second World War and its effect on not only the citizens of Japan, but on the Koreans who were forced to work there by the Japanese. Family, love, grief and patriotism are all examined throughout the collection and some stories are more difficult emotionally than others. 

The story titled Flight was particularly impactful. Ayumi is sharing her memories, those she still has, of growing up and her first visit to America in 1911. The power of discovering a tomato for the first time. How her second tomato was discovered during her second pregnancy and the fear of Americans animosity towards people from Asia. Interspersed with her memories of raising her children and her marriage, are the ways her mind is betraying her. Names leave her first. She differentiates her daughters by their features, not their names. She doesn’t have those anymore. Ayumi recalls the difficulty of living in a country where you aren’t wanted. How she wasn’t able to communicate with her family back home because it could cause suspicion with the American government. The struggle to raise a family during the Depression. All the while, we are reminded that in the present, she doesn’t remember her children or their names. 

Many tears friends, many tears. 

Allegiance gives us Masaharu, a man who follows his wife to work and doesn’t understand why she’s working around so many soldiers. Their son is missing and the distance between them grows every day. In the next story, we hear her side of the story. As an old woman, she allows herself to be interviewed about her life during the war and how she was forced into acting as a “comfort woman.” The horrors that those women endured. The writing styles are drastically different between the two stories, creating a more powerful narrative. 

This was a fascinating collection of short stories and I highly recommend it. 

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Thank you to Netgalley and the Publisher for the opportunity to read and review this title.  All opinions and mistakes are my own. This post contains affiliate links and I earn from qualifying purchases.