The Buddha in the Attic took on the shared memories of Japanese immigrants to the US in the early 1900s, specifically those of picture brides. It is touching and distressing by turns, and throughout the novel, stories that do not get told in the history taught in US schools gets brought to the forefront. Students and people in general need to hear some of these experiences.
The narrative is in many places a bit confusing, especially since much of the piece is in the first person plural. It is a story of specifics told with extreme generality, and generalities told extremely specifically. The strange narrative device works really well for the novel though.
The end of the book, taking part at the beginning of WW2 is the most emotionally draining, but also probably the most important. Otsuka manages to create a beautifully written, powerfully captivating narrative that shows, not tells, the experience of discrimination, assimilation, and disconnectedness that was experienced through the first half of the 1900s by Japanese immigrants to the US.
Reading Level: High School and above
Could be paired with: WW2 literature, history of discrimination in the US (and in general)
Literature Without Dead White Men 