Middle Son by Deborah Iida is a small, deeply moving novel about the middle son of a Japanese immigrant family, growing up in the worker's camps in the cane fields on Maui. The novel brings us to the place so completely I can almost feel the cane spiders crawling on my skin and see the cane fires burning.
Iida has crafted a tale of family tradition, love and obligation; also the need to distance oneself from their place of origin, yet in the end a returning, coming home, making peace.
The language is spare and elegant and lyrical. This is a very subtle, yet powerful work of fiction. Beautiful. I loved this novel.
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