The Buddha in the Attic by Julie Otsuka

From the paperback:
 A gorgeous novel by the celebrated author of When the Emperor Was Divine that tells the story of a group of young women brought from Japan to San Francisco as "picture brides" nearly a century ago.
   In eight unforgettable sections, The Buddha in the Attic traces the extraordinary lives of these women, from their arduous journey by boat, to their arrival in San Francisco and their tremulous first nights as new wives: from their experience raising children who would later reject their culture and language, to the deracinating arrival of war. Once again, Julie Otsuka has written a spellbinding novel about identity and loyalty, and what it means to be an American in uncertain times.

"We forgot about Buddha. We forgot about God. We developed a coldness inside us that still has not thawed. I fear my soul has died. We stopped writing home to our mothers. We lost weight and grew thin. We stopped bleeding. We stopped dreaming. We stopped wanting."

The Buddha in the Attic is different from nearly everything I've read. Almost the entire book is told in first person plural (my first experience with this) really making it feel like an entire people were dealing with the same but different situation (which they were.) Sentences scattered throughout were italicized and in the first person, which felt to me that it was taken directly from a journal entry from one of the many women depicted. Since it was told from this viewpoint I didn't get the strong connection to a character I usually develop, instead I felt for a whole group of women, making it both easier and harder at the same time.
   This book is written so elegantly it almost felt like poetry. Beautiful yet concise, not mincing or wasting words, it tells of a time in America that shouldn't be forgotten.
   You do not have to love beautiful writing to enjoy this book, but if you do, read on. This is a shorter book so I also recommend it if you don't have much time to devote to reading.