My Friend Suki (short story)

Short story by Vera Arvey about a Nisei woman whose wartime incarceration along with a run of familial tragedies lead to a breakdown and residence in a mental hospital. The narrator of the story begins by sending a Christmas present to Suki, but doesn't hear back for several weeks, when she gets a notice that Suki has been sent to a mental hospital. Through correspondence with various friends and her own recollections, she pieces together the story starting with Suki's Issei parents' immigration, the impact of exclusion and incarceration, the string of events leading to her current state, and Suki's most recent, hopeful, letter.

Published originally in NOW , a Los Angeles based progressive newspaper, My Friend Suki was reprinted by the Pacific Citizen in 1945.

Might also like " The Legend of Miss Sasagawara " by Hisaye Yamamoto; " Case History " by Bradford Smith; " A Star Is Something to Steer By " by Mataileen Larkin Ramsdell