Naomi Hirahara
Local journalist and author Naomi Hirahara’s latest book, “Clark and Division,” follows a Japanese American family after their release from Manzanar in 1944 and their life after being shipped thousands of miles away, to cold Chicago. It’s a tale that’s part historical fiction and part murder mystery from the award-winning writer famous for her Mas Arai series.
Hirahara will discuss her new book during a Vroman’s Live presentation on Tuesday, August 3, starting at 6 p.m. The virtual event takes place on Crowdcast. Register for free ahead of time to save your spot.
Hirahara, who was born and raised in Altadena and now resides in Pasadena, was editor of the largest Japanese-American daily newspaper, The Rafu Shimpo, for several years. She is currently a writer of both fiction and non-fiction works and the Edgar Award-winning Mas Arai mystery series. She is also a winner of the McCavity award for mystery writers. She is a former chapter president of the Southern California chapter of the Mystery Writers of America.
In “Clark and Division,” Hirahara takes the reader back to 1944, when 21-year-old Aki Ito and her parents have just been released from Manzanar Camp in the Owens Valley, where they have been detained, together with thousands of other Japanese Americans, by the U.S. government as a consequence of the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor in December 1941.
The life in Southern California the Itos were forced to leave behind is gone; instead, they are being resettled 2,000 miles away in Chicago, where Aki’s older sister, Rose, was sent months earlier and moved to the new Japanese American neighborhood near Clark and Division streets. But on the eve of the Ito family’s reunion, Rose is killed by a subway train. Aki, who worshipped her sister, is stunned. Officials are ruling Rose’s death a suicide. Aki cannot believe her perfect, polished, and optimistic sister would end her life. Her instinct tells her there is much more to the story, and she knows she is the only person who could ever learn the truth.
Inspired by historical events, “Clark and Division” infuses an atmospheric and heartbreakingly real crime fiction plot with rich period details and delicately wrought personal stories the author has gleaned from 30 years of research and archival work in Japanese American history.
Hirahara is expected to share more about her research and experience that influenced her decision to write “Clark and Division” at the virtual event Tuesday.
To sign up for the free event, visit www.crowdcast.io/e/jhus7mge.
For more information, call (626) 449-5320.
