Summarizer

Chapters 1 through 7 (Sadie)

In this first section Hana, the main character, meets her future husband Taro. Hana is a Japanese girl from Japan. Taro lived in Japan but moved to America to find a better life. Hana travels from Japan to Oakland, California. Taro and Hana get married. They begin life together. Taro introduces Hana to some of his friends, one of them being Yamaka. Yamaka plays a major role in this section. He falls for Hana, and Hana does the same. She wants to be with Yamaka but can't. Taro doesn't notice, but we leave off with him telling Hana he wants children.

Chapters 7 through 14 (Matt) Chapter seven starts out on the morning of New Year's Day, 1819. Hana busies herself with getting their home ready for breakfast, in which their friends Yamaka, Dr. Kaneda, Kiku, and Henry join them for. They celebrate, getting slightly tipsy. Hana and Yamaka's feelings show in this party, and the rest of the people notice. Taro confronts her, not to say something about Yamaka, but about wanting a child. Within the next few days, Taro visits a few farming communities to sell them food, thus leaving Hana to run the shop and Yamaka to stop by.

Taro finds out that Yamaka visits for lunch, and Hana closes the shop to eat upstairs with him. Hana does not tell Taro that they kissed, but she consoles her guilt with the fact that she stopped them both from doing anything past the first kiss. Presumably a few months after this, Hana is revealed to be pregnant just as the Spanish Influenza is spreading through their city. Yamaka dies due to this, and all of the characters we met thus far are shaken.

Hana gets sick late in her pregnancy, and has the baby while still ailing from it. The baby, born premature, dies without making a sound.

Jumping ahead, Taro comes with news that they may be able to get a new house to rent, and their thoughts drift to their new child, Mary Yukari, a six-month old baby girl. When they just get settled into the new house, a group of men come complaining about Japanese presence in their neighborhood. Taro sends them off politely, requesting that the offended party visit him if they want him to even consider the request to leave.

Toda and Kiku move to their relative's farm to work, and the Superintendent of the Sunday School borrows money from the Women's Society and leaves to Japan. Mrs. Davis gives Hana a job cleaning their house, seeing as Hana and Taro need the money. She worked all day, getting to know and like Mrs. Davis. She comes home exhausted and Taro cooks supper while she takes care of Mary.

Mrs. Davis and Hana find Nishima in the Davis' attic, malnourished and in a poor mental state. They decide he would come live with Taro and Hana and Mary.