Synopses & Reviews
In Japan, no Fire Horse Woman could ever dream of marrying. It was a tragic sign, a ruinous birthdate that occurred once every sisty years. Though always beautiful, Fire Horse Women were destined to remain untamed by men and were to be avoided as wives at all cost.
An orphan as well, Sayo had two strikes against her. But her loving mentor kept her secrets and made a match for her with the second son of a wealthy family. A son who was staking his own claim in America. Though beset by doubts and unforeseen circumstances, tragedy and pain, in this new land Sayo learns to harness the power of the Fire Horse and survive all the obstacles that life sets in her path.
But as the winds of World War II begin to blow across America, Sayo and her family find themselves looked upon as enemies and interned in a desert camp. There, under immense hardship, Sayo, her daughter Hana, and her granddaughter Terri will persevere. An undeniable desire will transform Hana from subservient wife to a woman of passion and conviction. And a schoolgirl crush will give Terri the strength to believe in a future outside of the camp's barbed wire and beyond the boundaries of prejudice...
Through it all, confined together in the camp, Hana and Terri learn of Sayo's unconventional and courageous life and draw strength from the fire that still burns in her eyes and in her heart. These three women, who in Japan would be branded as outcasts, find a place or themselves in the world and become true American heroines.
Review
"A beautiful and important book." Ernest J. Gaines
Review
"Houston adeptly interweaves Sayo's past and her family's tumultuous present, drawing parallels between Native Americans and displaced Japanese-Americans without hammering the reader with history lessons or blaming individuals for the government's actions. With hope, humor and resilience, Houston celebrates the immigrants who determined 'this was America, after all, where preposterous ideas became reality.'" Publishers Weekly
Review
"Jeanne Wakatsuki Houston's storytelling is at once epic and intimate. I love each one of the girls and women whose adventures, guided by signs, dreams and spirits, take them from old-world Japan to modern America. Sayo, Hana and Terri will long live in our hearts." Maxine Hong Kingston
Review
"Jeanne Wakatsuki Houston's insight and wonderful storytelling brings to life The Legend of Fire Horse Woman, and returns us to the Japanese American internment camp of Manzanar, where the power and strength of the human spirit soars amidst the darkest of days. It is a story both entertaining and enduring." Gail Tsukiyama