Shirley Ann Higuchi | Setsuko's Secret: Heart Mountain and the Legacy of the Japanese American Incarceration

Join author Shirley Ann Higuchi for a conversation and book signing of her new history book, Setsuko’s Secret: Heart Mountain and the Legacy of the Japanese American Incarceration.

This event is free and open to the public and will take place at the bookshop. Places in the signing line are reserved for those who purchase a copy of the featured book from The King’s English. GET YOUR COPY NOW! Pre-order your signed copy of the featured book today, by either calling the store at 801-484-9100 or ordering online. Please specify if you will be attending the event and if you want your book personalized.

About the book:

As children, Shirley Ann Higuchi and her brothers knew Heart Mountain only as the place their parents met, imagining it as a great Stardust Ballroom in rural Wyoming. As they grew older, they would come to recognize the name as a source of great sadness and shame for their older family members, part of the generation of Japanese Americans forced into the hastily built concentration camp in the aftermath of Executive Order 9066.
Only after a serious cancer diagnosis did Shirley’s mother, Setsuko, share her vision for a museum at the site of the former camp, where she had been donating funds and volunteering in secret for many years. After Setsuko’s death, Shirley skeptically accepted an invitation to visit the site, a journey that would forever change her life and introduce her to a part of her mother she never knew.
Navigating the complicated terrain of the Japanese American experience, Shirley patched together Setsuko’s story and came to understand the forces and generational trauma that shaped her own life. Moving seamlessly between family and communal history, Setsuko’s Secret offers a clear window into the “camp life” that was rarely revealed to the children of the incarcerated. This volume powerfully insists that we reckon with the pain in our collective American past.

Reminder! Masks are required! Our mask requirement remains in effect at this time, for the safety and comfort of all of our visitors. Please note that we are maintaining a no-exceptions mask policy and other safety protocols. We are mindful of those who are not fully vaccinated, those who cannot be vaccinated due to age or health conditions, those who are immunocompromised, and those who have vulnerable individuals in their homes and families. For the time being, a mask requirement is how we keep The King’s English Bookshop a welcoming, safe space for everyone in our community.

So don’t forget your mask, regardless of your vaccination status, and thanks for your cooperation! (If you don’t have a mask when you visit, we can provide a one-time use mask for you at the door.)

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