The Diplomat's Daughter

A Novel

By: Karin Tanabe

Narrated by: Joy Osmanski, Corey Brill, Jacques Roy

For fans of All the Light We Cannot See and Orphan Train, the author of the “thought-provoking” (Library Journal, starred review) and “must-read” (PopSugar) novel The Gilded Years crafts a captivating tale of three young people divided by the horrors of World War II and their journey back to one another.

During the turbulent months following the 1941 bombing of Pearl Harbor, twenty-one-year-old Emi Kato, the daughter of a Japanese diplomat, is locked behind barbed wire in a Texas internment camp. She feels hopeless until she meets handsome young Christian Lange, whose German-born parents were wrongfully arrested for un-American activities. Together, they live as prisoners with thousands of other German and Japanese families, but discover that love can bloom in even the bleakest circumstances.

When Emi and her mother are abruptly sent back to Japan, Christian enlists in the United States Army, with his sights set on the Pacific front—and, he hopes, a reunion with Emi—unaware that her first love, Leo Hartmann, the son of wealthy of Austrian parents and now a Jewish refugee in Shanghai, may still have her heart.

Fearful of bombings in Tokyo, Emi’s parents send her to a remote resort town in the mountains, where many in the foreign community have fled. Cut off from her family, struggling with growing depression and hunger, Emi repeatedly risks her life to help keep her community safe—all while wondering if the two men she loves are still alive.

As Christian Lange struggles to adapt to life as a soldier, his unit pushes its way from the South Pacific to Okinawa, where one of the bloodiest battles of World War II awaits them. Meanwhile, in Japanese-occupied Shanghai, as Leo fights to survive the squalor of the Jewish ghetto, a surprise confrontation with a Nazi officer threatens his life. For each man, Emi Kato is never far from their minds.

Flung together by war, passion, and extraordinary acts of selflessness, the paths of these three remarkable young people will collide as the fighting on the Pacific front crescendos. With her “elegant and extremely gratifying” (USA TODAY) storytelling, Karin Tanabe paints a stunning portrait of a turning point in history.

An interesting perspective of WWII.

The effect of WWII on characters who are not often portrayed. I found it very interesting.

The Diplomat's Daughter

A very good listen. A good look into a portion of history that I was not aware of. The suffering off the Japanese, the humiliation of the jews. There bond in war times and the cruelty and selfishness if the Germans. A story of survival .

Loved this book!

I really got involved with the characters and didn’t want it to end. Set in WW11, but from three perspectives. Well done!

Wonderful WW2 Story!

Great character development, interesting story taking place in Europe, the US and Asia. The novel has some historical details of the war including what life may have been like in an internment camp in the US. Of course, there is some romance but the theme of the novel is mostly about persistence, the horrors of war and survival. Highly recommend!

Acceptable

Not the best, not the worst. The woman narrator's voice irritated me at times, probably because of the various accents she used so unsuccessfully. If you aren't an expert at international accents, just use your own voice. We can imagine the appropriate accents. I loved the men's narration. I found Emmi, the main character, less than sympathetic. She needed better character development, imo. She was beautiful and supposedly had spunk, thus two men fell in love with her. I found her tiresome and spoiled. However, there was enough good in the book that I finished it. Perhaps if one of the men narrator's had read the whole novel, I would have enjoyed it more.