Michael G. Malaghan
Special to The Hawai‘i Herald
Editor’s note: We continue Michael G. Malaghan’s serialized historical novel, “Picture Bride — A Family Saga,” based on the Japanese immigrant experience. Malaghan’s trilogy takes readers from turn-of-the-20th-century-Japan to Hawai‘i in the picture bride era; the Islands during World War II, highlighted by the exploits of the Nisei soldiers; and beyond.
The novel, which is now available as a printed softcover book, opens with 12-year-old Haru-chan, fleeing her home in Amakusa, Kyüshü, for Hiroshima, where she becomes the picture bride of a Buddhist priest in Hawai‘i.
Author Michael Malaghan is a retired businessman who divides his time between Hawai‘i, Florida and Japan.
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As Kurume cornered onto the dirt road leading to the plantation, a yellow glow hovered over what Kenji speculated were the remnants of the Fujimoto home and not, he hoped, the Bilkerton mansion. Kenji’s speculation missed the mark. A minute later, shadowy figures morphed into men holding torches. The stench of burnt embers shifted Kenji’s eyes to a stub of smoldering timber, the Fujimoto home. Bent over, searchers were poking through the ruins with iron rods.
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