Title: 8:15: A True Story of Survival and Forgiveness from Hiroshima
Author: Dr. Akiko Mikamo
Publisher: Westwood Books Publishing, LLC
ISBN: 978-1643619897
Pages: 212
Genre: Biographies & Memoirs/WWII Biographies
Reviewed by: Anthony Avina
Pacific Book Review
One of the hardest things in life for anyone to do is find it within their hearts to forgive another person or group of people, especially when those individuals have wronged them in some way. As Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. once said, “Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate; only love can do that.”
In author Dr. Akiko Mikamo’s book 8:15: A True Story of Survival and Forgiveness from Hiroshima, the author tells the story of their father, who survived the horrendous event of WWII known as Hiroshima. After the atomic bomb fell on Hiroshima, the author’s father, then a young boy, only survived after being buried under the collapsed home of their neighbors after being knocked off of his own home while helping to prepare to take off their home’s rooftop to build a makeshift bathroom for their neighbor’s guest house. From there, years of struggle and later acceptance and forgiveness bring the man’s story of survival and forgiveness to fruition.
A powerful and emotional book, the author does a brilliant job of highlighting the aftermath of one of WWII’s most heartbreaking and brutal attacks. The raw power and destruction the atomic bombs caused is felt throughout this book, and the heartbreaking reality of how shocked, angry and confused the survivors and the soldiers were in the aftermath of that bombing were felt in every page; as was the subject’s path towards empathy and forgiveness as time went on.
This book is for anyone who enjoys WWII History and Biographies, tales of survival, and stories of forgiveness. As a history fan, it was sad but interesting to learn about the aftermath of Hiroshima from the unique perspective of a survivor, as rarely are readers able to explore that path.
This is a must-read book. A heartfelt story of surviving against all odds, enduring the horrors of war and senseless violence, and finding a way to instill a father’s lessons into your heart and find the path to forgiveness, author Dr. Akiko Mikamo’s 8:15: A True Story of Survival and Forgiveness from Hiroshima is a fascinating, tragic and evenly paced read that will give readers a new and fresh perspective of an important event in WWII. Be sure to grab your own copy today.
