A Lingering Silence
The renowned Dorothea Lange took this photo on April 20, 1942, in San Francisco, CA. Her original caption reads: Flag of allegiance pledge at Raphael Weill Public School. Children in families of Japanese ancestry were evacuated with their parents and will be housed for the duration in War Relocation Authority centers where facilities will be provided for them to continue their education. National Archives Photo ID: 536053
Lange's collection of 7,870 photographs is available for public use through the National Archives Catalog.
Status: manuscript completed, querying agents
About: Four decades after WWII, two old friends reunite at the U.S. government hearings for Japanese American reparations. Ryoko is searching for the truth behind her brother’s Purple Heart, and Henry is haunted by a wartime battle that traded lives for victory. Each tries to separate their past traumas from present-day pain, but they discover what is left unsaid lingers for a lifetime.
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Ryoko and Henry’s reckonings are paired with a timeline of their pre-war lives and their days in “internment camp.” As a young woman, Ryoko struggles to break out of the mold expected of a dutiful daughter. Henry is a farmer who must fulfill his parent’s dreams. Both struggle with their identity until each finds a calling that is bigger than themselves. A Lingering Silence is a story of our grandparents and parents’ generations as well as the future, if America grapples with its overlooked histories that some would rather keep silent.
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Forthcoming: Atomic Bomb Maidens
Status: in research
Concept: Atomic Bomb Maidens is a story of two young women whose lives become intertwined by the lasting effects of WWII. Brought to the US from Hiroshima for medical treatment, Aiko battles radiation poisoning from the bomb that decimated her family, her city, and possibly, her future. Emi is a white-passing Japanese American who dreams of becoming a reporter and while she searches for her break-out story, Emi must also hide her true identity due to anti-miscegenation laws banning interracial marriage.
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Atomic Bomb Maidens is inspired by the true story of the twenty-five women who were disfigured by the atomic bombs and brought to America for reconstructive surgery as well as the untold stories of the Japanese Americans who strove to reassert themselves as citizens in their own country.
