A CBM Christian Book Review
10.0 out of 10.0 stars
Westward Lies the Sun (A Novel) by Robert H. Kono is an epic novel blending historical fiction of the Japanese internment camps during WWII with the grandeur of love, romance, legacy, Samurai and Japanese heritage with the question of God and the reality of the spiritual realm.
The novel unfolds revealing Greg, his life and past, as the author captures each time period of his life well. Greg’s conversations with his friends and his own self-doubt being a Japanese American experiencing his own subculture being Japanese, which has caused Greg to question his own self-worth stemming from teenage years. Feeling culturally divided coupled with the trauma he had to endure throughout his growing up years, he feels displaced culturally. “He felt as though he were a pioneer or explorer, out to hack his way through the wilderness of the identity question.” (p. 11) This is just an example of the writer’s way of conveying this mental tug-of-war within the main character, Greg.
From a Christian perspective, the novel speaks on Greg’s personal reflections upon God, His existence and why bad things happen upon the Earth without cramming the Christian religion down one’s throat. This is much appreciated as the author gives enough information and Scripture to just make readers “think for themselves.”
Greg, as a staunch humanist, spends time with his four friends at their poker games that reveal much conversation about God. The book reveals a dark past for Greg and his family, being of Japanese descent during WWII and the horror of the camps. Their only crime, being Japanese, Greg reveals the loss of a family heirloom, in which he goes searching for. The epic continues as Greg and his family survive a shipwreck on an island, which ends up giving them life amid their tragedy. This book is a movie in the making with a dreamy, mysterious, and memorable title!
With a beautiful ending, surprises and twists along the way, the book keeps the attention of readers. I was hooked from chapter one. The beautiful descriptions of the lake and the cultural tensions that the Japanese experienced during the time of WWII provide an interesting backdrop. The author gives readers a true appreciation for family, love, patriotism, combined with dark overtones of racism prevalent during the WWII era, while also sharing Christianity in such a way that makes sense, giving equity a voice.
An absolutely fascinating novel with an epic title made for the big screen! You may get your copy of Westward Lies the Sun at Amazon and in Kindle as a download.
