This author participates in the Readers' Favorite Free Book Program, which is open to all readers and is completely free. The author will provide you with a free copy of their book in exchange for an honest review. You and the author will discuss what sites you will post your review to and what kind of copy of the book you would like to receive (eBook, PDF, Word, paperback, etc.). To begin, click the purple email icon to send this author a private email.
This author participates in the Readers' Favorite Book Donation Program, which was created to help nonprofit and charitable organizations (schools, libraries, convalescent homes, soldier donation programs, etc.) by providing them with free books and to help authors garner more exposure for their work. This author is willing to donate free copies of their book in exchange for reviews (if circumstances allow) and the knowledge that their book is being read and enjoyed. To begin, click the purple email icon to send this author a private email. Be sure to tell the author who you are, what organization you are with, how many books you need, how they will be used, and the number of reviews, if any, you would be able to provide.
Yumiko wrote her book with a desire to express gratitude to the people who brought freedom and democracy to Japan. She details the unique history Kyushu, the third largest island of Japan. She explains life on the island and how human rights and equality became a part of life.
Yumiko's parents watched this change occur as they experienced life with a militaristic government before the Japanese parliament took over. Her father told her of the strict, harsh environment he lived in before the author's birth. Her mother told her of the inequality women faced daily in the former society.
Reviewed by Julie Hodgson for Readers' Favorite
This part fiction novel starts in 1944 with the story of a young boy, whose life is changed forever by the war. The passion and heartfelt sorrow one feels when a war takes away sons to fight a war no one understands or even in fact wants to fight for... Do they come back? Or is it straight to the heavens for them? We continue the journey of this family living on Kyushu Island (the third largest island of Japan and most south-westerly of its four main islands), from the 1940s to 2004. This story is interconnected with many people and their journeys through the difficult times on this island, with always other forces wanting to take over, manipulate their islands and the ones surrounding them. Such is the greed for power. Hisaharu's life takes a different turn when he goes to high school, starts meeting different people and, best of all, gets access to books.
Hana da Yumiko's Isolated Connected Kyushu Island is delightfully peppered with history, from samurai warriors to WW2 and onward to the 21st century, following her ancestors. The story reads like a fiction novel, though it is a well documented and footnoted partly true story. Anticipation catches you unawares as you follow Hisaharu and his family, thus making it a page-turner that keeps you immersed in the history, cultural differences, and historical/life events that run through the entire book. Isolated Connected Kyushu Island tells a story of the transition from the ending of the age of the samurai to the rise of the military might and finally to a thriving democracy after so many years of invasions and religious control which continually affected the lives of Hisaharu and his family. This story educates as well as inspires you. Books like these are precious, giving us an insight into family life, but also showing us the struggle to gain a foothold and hang on to our democracy without losing too much along the way. A very enjoyable read; indeed one that you should have on your shelf to read again and again.
