The Buddha in the Attic is a lyrical and haunting novel that traces the collective voices of young Japanese “picture brides” who journey to early‑20th‑century America to marry men they’ve never met. Told in an extraordinary first‑person plural narrative, Otsuka’s spare, poetic prose captures the hardships, dreams, cultural dislocation, and resilience of these women — from their crossing of the Pacific and life in San Francisco, to the struggles of work, family, and cultural identity, and ultimately to the wartime upheavals that forever alter their lives. Winner of the PEN/Faulkner Award and a National Book Award finalist, this elegant novel offers a powerful meditation on memory, belonging, and the shaping of American identity.
About the Author
Julie Otsuka is an acclaimed American novelist and recipient of a Guggenheim Fellowship. Born and raised in California, she earned her MFA from Columbia University. Otsuka’s work often explores Japanese‑American history and identity, blending emotional insight with precise, evocative language. Her debut novel, When the Emperor Was Divine, won multiple awards, and The Buddha in the Attic was a New York Times bestseller as well as a finalist for the National Book Award and winner of the PEN/Faulkner Award for Fiction. She lives in New York City, where she continues to write with a distinctive voice that resonates widely.
