Clark and Division, and Evergreen

Clark and Division (2021) and Evergreen (2023) by Naomi Hirahara are a pair of satisfying historical mysteries beginning around World War II, centering on Aki Ito and her family. As Clark and Division opens, Aki and her family–father, mother, and older sister Rose, are living in their home in Southern California with their golden retriever, as their father manages a thriving produce market that ships all over the United States. Their parents are Issei–born in Japan and emigrated to the U.S.–but Rose and Aki are considered Nisei within the Japanese-American community because they were born in the United States.

Then Pearl Harbor happens and their world changes almost instantly. They are forced to leave their homes and jobs and go to camps away from the California coast. Thus begins the Ito family’s time in Manzanar, one of many shameful times in U.S. history. Told from Aki’s perspective, HIrahara describes her feelings of dislocation and frustration honestly. After a couple of years, some displaced persons are able to move out of the camps and into cities away from the Pacific Coast, and Rose is one of the first to go to Chicago. A few months later, the rest of the family joins her, but when they get there, they find that Rose has just died on the train tracks at Clark and Division Streets.

Devastated, Aki can’t believe that her sister killed herself and vows to find out what happened. She gets help from her new friends where she works at the library, and meets a young Japanese man, Art Nakasone, who grew up on the South Side of Chicago.

Fast forward to Evergreen, which begins in 1946, just after the war has ended. Aki and Art have married right before Art joins the Army, which he spends in Europe, and Aki and her parents have been able to move back to California. Of course, their jobs and homes are no longer theirs, and they have to try to figure out how to rebuild their lives. When Art returns, he’s not quite the same. Aki works as a nurse’s aide at the Japanese Hospital, and her father wants to try to reopen the produce market, but it’s not so easy. And Art’s best friend Babe Watanabe seems to be mixed up with something criminal–how can Aki protect Art from this? When Babe’s father shows up at the hospital first beaten, and then dead, Aki suspects the worst.

I really enjoyed listening to both of these books, and was intrigued by the mysteries. Hirahara does a great job of illuminating the struggles that Japanese-Americans had to endure with prejudice from all sides. Aki is a great character, and her growth through both books was significant. I loved the development of Aki and Art’s relationship through Evergreen, from newlyweds who were still infatuated, to partners dealing with difficult situations.

I don’t recall any significant anti-fat bias, so would consider both books weight-neutral.