| When the Emperor Was Divine | |
| Author: | Julie Otsuka |
| Cover Artist: | Iris Weinstein |
| Country: | United States |
| Language: | English |
| Genre: | Historical fiction |
| Publisher: | Alfred A. Knopf (US) Viking Press (UK) |
| Pub Date: | September 10, 2002 (US) January 30, 2003 (UK) |
| Media Type: | Print (paperback, hardcover) |
| Pages: | 148 |
| Isbn: | 9780375414299 |
| Oclc: | 1345471933 |
| Congress: | PS3615.T88 W48 2002 |
| Isbn Note: | (1st ed) |
| Set In: | 1940's Arizona |
When the Emperor Was Divine is a historical fiction novel written by American author Julie Otsuka about a Japanese American family sent to an internment camp in the Utah desert during World War II. The novel, loosely based on the wartime experiences of Otsuka's mother's family,[1] is written through the perspective of four family members, detailing their eviction from California and their time in camp. It is Otsuka's debut novel, and was published in the United States in 2002 by Alfred A. Knopf.
The story follows a Japanese American family; a father, a mother, a son, and a daughter. The family members remain nameless, thus giving their story a universal quality. The novel is divided into 5 sections, each told from a different family member's perspective. The first chapter, the mother's perspective, follows the family's preparations for leaving for the camp. The second chapter, from the girl's perspective, takes place on the train as the family is transported to their internment location. The third chapter, from the boy's perspective, chronicles the three years the family spends at the internment camp in Topaz, Utah. The fourth chapter, told from the combined perspectives of the boy and girl, tells of the family's return home and their efforts at rebuilding their lives as well as their experience in the post war milieu of anti-Japanese discrimination. The final chapter is a confession, told from the father's perspective and structured as a direct address to the reader.
The book was met with a generally positive reception. Writing for The New York Times, literary critic Michiko Kakutani stated "though the book is flawed by a bluntly didactic conclusion, the earlier pages testify to the author's lyric gifts and narrative poise".[2] Sylvia Santiago of Herizons magazine described Otsuka's writing style as "scrupulously unsentimental", thus "creating a contrast to the sensitive subject matter".[3] said the novel was "a meditation on what it means to be loyal to one's country and to one's self, and on the cost and the necessity of remaining brave and human".[4]
When the Emperor Was Divine won the American Library Association's Alex Award in 2003 and also won an Asian American Literary Award.[5] [6]