PARADE's Best Books to Read this Summer
"A rich historical novel that illustrates why connection is more important and more vital than ever." -New York Times bestselling author Lisa See
Daniel Abe, a young doctor in Chicago, is finally coming back to Hawai'i. He has his own reason for returning to his childhood home, but it is not to revisit the past, unlike his Uncle Koji. Koji lives with the memories of Daniel's mother, Mariko, the love of his life, and the scars of a life hard-lived. He can't wait to see Daniel, who he's always thought of as a son, but he knows the time has come to tell him the truth about his mother, and his father. But Daniel's arrival coincides with the awakening of the Mauna Loa volcano, and its dangerous path toward their village stirs both new and long ago passions in their community.
Alternating between past and present—from the day of the volcano eruption in 1935 to decades prior—The Color of Air interweaves the stories of Daniel, Koji, and Mariko to create a rich, vibrant, bittersweet chorus that celebrates their lifelong bond to one other and to their immigrant community. As Mauna Loa threatens their lives and livelihoods, it also unearths long held secrets simmering below the surface that meld past and present, revealing a path forward for them all.
PARADE's Best Books to Read this Summer
"A rich historical novel that illustrates why connection is more important and more vital than ever." -New York Times bestselling author Lisa See
Daniel Abe, a young doctor in Chicago, is finally coming back to Hawai'i. He has his own reason for returning to his childhood home, but it is not to revisit the past, unlike his Uncle Koji. Koji lives with the memories of Daniel's mother, Mariko, the love of his life, and the scars of a life hard-lived. He can't wait to see Daniel, who he's always thought of as a son, but he knows the time has come to tell him the truth about his mother, and his father. But Daniel's arrival coincides with the awakening of the Mauna Loa volcano, and its dangerous path toward their village stirs both new and long ago passions in their community.
Alternating between past and present—from the day of the volcano eruption in 1935 to decades prior—The Color of Air interweaves the stories of Daniel, Koji, and Mariko to create a rich, vibrant, bittersweet chorus that celebrates their lifelong bond to one other and to their immigrant community. As Mauna Loa threatens their lives and livelihoods, it also unearths long held secrets simmering below the surface that meld past and present, revealing a path forward for them all.
Critiques-
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Starred review from May 15, 2020
In 1930s Hawaii, a tightknit community grows even closer in the weeks after the eruption of a nearby volcano threatens their town and brings up old secrets. Tsukiyama delivers the reader to the lush landscape of Hawaii on the day in 1935 when a prodigal son's return coincides with the eruption of Mauna Loa, a true event. Daniel Abe is a successful doctor in Chicago, but two years after his mother Mariko's death, a secret drives him home to Hilo, Hawaii. As he arrives, the volcano erupts. In the weeks it takes for the lava to flow toward the town, Daniel's childhood community comes together as they always have. With interludes of "ghost voices" and "island voices," the book reveals characters and events from decades prior, deepening the richness of the community. Told in close third person from various perspectives, the narrative draws the reader into the family ties and abundant landscape of Hilo. Tsukiyama writes her characters into the fabric of a time and place where the sugar cane industry was king; people from all over the world are recruited as workers only to be exploited by the plantation owners, and attempts at unionization are violently extinguished. In Hilo, "a chorus of Portuguese, Chinese, Tagalog, and Japanese languages all melded into one indistinguishable song," but people were kept "separated by ethnic groups, just as the owners planned." Yet the mosaic of characters creates a family: "Not born to be, yeah...but chosen to be." Through tragedy and joy, Tsukiyama crafts characters whose reliance on each other is their greatest strength, with many strong women leading the way. The dialogue flows easily, and the landscape is rendered with such vibrance that the reader will become fully immersed in the sensory details. Well-paced and lush, this is a captivating historical novel that shows the power of love and human resilience.COPYRIGHT(2020) Kirkus Reviews, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.
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Starred review from May 15, 2020
Lives reconverge under pressure in 1935, in Hilo, Hawaii. Koji, a once legendary sugar-cane cutter who came to the Big Island from Japan as a boy in 1895, is mourning Mariko, the love of his life. Also grieving is Mariko's closest friend, clever and tireless Nori, whose fish market is the de facto community center for the town's Japanese immigrant community. Mariko's son, Daniel, has been gone for years, studying medicine in Chicago and securing a prestigious appointment rare for an Oriental, only to return home in despair. Daniel's high school sweetheart, whom he left behind, has also sought refuge in Hilo, after suffering violence in Honolulu. Now everyone faces impending disaster as the enormous volcano, Mauna Loa, reawakens and demonstrates its explosive power. Writing with supple and entrancing grace, Tsukiyama (A Hundred Flowers, 2012) has each of her charismatic, caring characters share their memories and heartaches, reaching back several decades in sections titled Ghost Voices. Tsukiyama also evokes the wild, opulent beauty of the island, the harsh lives of migrant workers, racist and domestic violence, mystical connections, the repercussions of a love triangle, and the tolls of age. As the volcano erupts, long-buried secrets and guilt surge to seismic effect. Tsukiyama's dramatic yet discerningly congenial novel confronts the precariousness of existence and celebrates the healing power of generosity and love.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2020, American Library Association.) -
July 13, 2020
The 1935 eruption of Hawaii’s Mauna Loa volcano forms a suspenseful backdrop for Tsukiyama’s engrossing novel (after A Hundred Flowers). The day the eruption begins, Daniel Abe returns to Hilo, where he was raised among the close-knit Japanese American community clustered around a brutal sugarcane plantation. Having overcome the prejudice against “Orientals,” Daniel studied and practiced medicine in Chicago for 10 years before his guilt over fatally misdiagnosing a four-year-old patient drives him to return home. His mother, Mariko, died two years ago of cancer, and while living in her bungalow Daniel reconnects with Hilo’s residents, including Koji, who drives the plantation’s freight train and whose love helped sustain Mariko and Daniel after they were abandoned by Daniel’s father; Mama Natua, a matriarch sliding into senility; and Daniel’s former girlfriend, Maile, who has returned to Hilo with shame of her own. As the lava flow creeps toward Hilo, the characters cope with their own and others’ secrets. Tsukiyama demonstrates a range of descriptive powers, depicting the island’s beauty and the oppressive plantation with equal skill. The story’s rich interconnections are captured through multiple third-person viewpoints and brief sections that revisit the past. Tsukiyama’s rich and beautifully written exploration of the uncertainty of life and the power of community has timeless appeal. Agent: Joy Harris, Joy Harris Agency. -
February 1, 2020
Chicago-based doctor Daniel Abe is returning to Hawaii, where his uncle Koji eagerly anticipates revealing the truth about Daniel's father and his mother, Mariko, Koji's secret love. But Daniel's return coincides with the 1935 eruption of the Mauna Loa volcano. From New York Times best-selling Tsukiyama; with a 100,000-copy first printing.
Copyright 2020 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.
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Ms. magazine
"Lushly written, this is a story of family ties, immigration, resilience and home." — Ms. magazine
"The Color of Air is quintessential Tsukiyama, generous in spirit, gorgeously written, and full of secrets and surprises. Every character in this ensemble novel is as compelling and appealing as the next and together they lead the reader into the beating heart of this tight-knit community. A stupendous work." — Karen Joy Fowler, New York Times bestselling author of We Are All Completely Beside Ourselves and Winner of the PEN/Faulkner Award
"With a piercing and authentic sense of place, Gail Tsukiyama brings to life a group of ordinary Japanese/Hawaiians with intertwined lives that are filled with love, passion, empathy, wisdom, and joy. Life is hard, but it is not hopeless and in the shadow of the volcano Mauna Loa, unforgettable individuals—drawn by the author with tenderness and in vivid detail—contend with the pain and confusion of the past and the fleeting moments of happiness in the present, letting go of both pain and fear in order to meet the future." — Elizabeth George, #1 New York Times bestselling author
"In The Color of Air, Tsukiyama has created a community with characters who meet difficulties and persist with grace and endurance; whose dependence on one another is, in fact, their greatest strength. A rich historical novel that illustrates why connection is more important and more vital than ever." — Lisa See, New York Times bestselling author of The Island of Sea Women and The Tea Girl of Hummingbird Lane
"Tsukiyama's beautiful telling of an island son's homecoming had me under a spell to the last page. The Color of Air pulls you in gently and takes you deep." — Nancy Horan, New York Times bestselling author of Loving Frank and Under the Wide and Starry Sky
"Through tragedy and joy, Tsukiyama crafts characters whose reliance on each other is their greatest strength, with many strong women leading the way. The dialogue flows easily, and the landscape is rendered with such vibrance that the reader will become fully immersed in the sensory details. Well-paced and lush, this is a captivating historical novel that shows the power of love and human resilience." — Kirkus Reviews (starred review)
"Writing with supple and entrancing grace, Tsukiyama has each of her caring, charismatic characters share their memories and heartaches.....Tsukiyama also evokes the wild, opulent beauty of the island, the harsh lives of migrant workers, racist and domestic violence, mystical connections, the repercussions of a love triangle, and the tolls of age. As the volcano erupts, long buried secrets and guilt surge to seismic effect. Tsukiyama's dramatic yet discerningly congenial novel confronts the precariousness of existence and celebrates the healing power of generosity and love." — Booklist (starred review)
"An intoxicating blend of historical events and fiction, The Color of Air is a richly rewarding reading experience perfect for fans of Lisa See or Isabel Allende, or anyone looking for a magical love story that transcends time." — BookPage
"Tsukiyama's rich and beautifully written exploration of the uncertainty of life and the power of community has timeless appeal." — Publishers Weekly
"Readers in search of stories about the complexity of fellowship, and how it is made and unmade over time, will find much to admire in Tsukiyama's lush...
