“In Japanese, we had no actual translation for ‘I miss you.’” So begins Yukiko Tominaga’s debut novel, See Loss See Also Love. Here she examines the complex emotion of grief, how it can evoke contradictory feelings and how it also can lead to self-exploration. Ultimately, grief can strengthen life-affirming connections with others. It is universal, just like love.
Tominaga, a short story writer, was born and raised in Japan and was a finalist for the Flannery O’Conner Award for short fiction. Unlike a plotted novel that moves forward, in this book she presents a set of vignettes that meander across time and space. Despite the meandering, this book, written in clear, spare, and emotionally honest prose, wins the reader over.
Twenty-something Kyoko, who lives in San Francisco, visits her family in Japan, with her young son Alex. There she receives the tragic news: Her Jewish husband, Levi, has died in an accident while working in the garage of their home.
Burdened by grief, Kyoko decides to return to the States rather than stay in Japan. She must now hold a job, try to find whatever happiness she can, and most importantly, raise her son alone.
In a vignette titled, My Jewish Genie, Kyoko says, “Becoming a mother was my bachert, my fate. But bachert didn’t guarantee financial security. Here you go, good luck. . . Death was a privilege and Levi took that way from me.”
Kyoko’s lively, quirky mother-in-law Bubbe, who is also alone, is tormented by the loss of her son. In her desperation, Bubbe visits a fortune teller and consults with her behind closed doors. Kyoko, not totally comfortable with this arrangement, hides in another room and listens.
“Happiness for your daughter-in-law? Let me see,” the fortune-teller said. “Your warm energy will not win over her coldness.”
Bubbe remains steadfast in her support of Kyoko. Their interactions reveal much about the two women and form the heart of this story.
Says Kyoko in a vignette titled, “Why Do We Need Men When We Have Each Other? “We stayed up till four in the morning, each holding a half-gallon ice cream carton and making up a scenario of Bubbe’s meeting a wealthy, generous gentleman, so that he could take care of all of us. We would be repeating the same conversation the next year, and the year after, happily.”
