This 2022 release made me an instant Julie Otsuka fan: I laughed, I cried, I dove into her backlist. This slim story begins with the collective narrative of the devoted regular swimmers at a community pool. But one day a crack appears in the bottom of the pool and it's soon closed to the swimmers. No longer able to gather for their laps, the swimmers are forced to individually deal with the grave disruption to their routine, and no one is affected more than elderly Alice, whose story takes over the narrative. The surprising pivot from snappy social commentary to a devastating portrait of encroaching dementia is effective and moving. Otsuka is a master of the tiny details throughout, be they witty or heartbreaking.

From the publisher: "In eight unforgettable sections, The Buddha in the Attic traces the extraordinary lives of these women, from their arduous journeys by boat, to their arrival in San Francisco and their tremulous first nights as new wives; from their experiences raising children who would later reject their culture and language, to the deracinating arrival of war."