What a beautiful story! This is what I would call a jewel. Hana and Kei, mixed twins, share a special bond. They are so close they pretend to be one person at times. Their mom, Miya is plagued by memories from Hiroshima and never shares her secret traumas with anyone, including her fatherless daughters. Tortured by her past and constantly reliving her pain, Miya is labelled the town crazy lady and her daughters think she is sick. As the girls get older and their bond begins to sever, one awful night changes their lives forever.

This was a work of historical fiction illuminating the Japanese experience during World War 2. It sheds light on generational trauma, discrimination, mental illness and how it manifests, haunts, miseducates and repeats itself. It also highlights sisterhood, survival, parenrhood, forgiveness, marraige and PTSD.

The author's writing style is dramatic yet beautiful in its' simplicity. I felt every emotion of the characters deep in my soul. The characters had depth and were so unique. The author depicted the characters in such a poetic fashion that I was so invested in them. Hana, Kei, Miya and Arnie will stay with me forever. This is one of those stories that I will remember forever and will need some time to fully process. The ending blew my mind and caught me completely off guard. My heart bleeds for rhis family and their tragedy was so moving. Bravo to Rahna Reiko Rizzuto for an amazing work of fiction. Thank you to Grand Central Publishing and Hachette Book Group for the ARC and the opportunity to give an honest review.