The Quiet

Hisa Igarashi bore witness to a history few today have been privy to. Born into a Buddhist temple, she saw firsthand the savagery wrought on Japan by World War II. She enjoyed a whirlwind romance with an American GI who made a war bride out of her—and then watched her marriage deteriorate in the United States. Alone, with a very young daughter to look after, Hisa worked her way up the ladder of New Jersey’s fashion industry, eventually becoming a celebrated and sought-after seamstress.

Years later, Hisa was able to return to Japan—but not without first dealing with the horrific impact of the 2011 Fukushima disaster. Upon revisiting her homeland, filtered through the lens of time, she was finally able to appreciate the familial roots that forged who she would become in adulthood. Hisa ends her memoir with a bittersweet reflection on those she’s lost, certain they’ll all be reunited soon.

The Quiet is a story Hisa soldiered through a lifetime to tell; it’s at once a first-person chronicle of history, and a heartening tale of a compassionate, resilient human spirit.