A World Between
Written by Emily Hashimoto
August 15, 2020
400 pp.
ISBN: 9781936932955
A World Between is a queer romance novel written by Emily Hashimoto. Some themes to highlight besides the overarching: bisexual acceptance, immigrant Asian families, coming out of the closet, and appreciation of elders all while encompassing a coming-of-age story for both protagonists. Additionally, parts of the novel featured scenes of romantic intimacy, firmly solidifying it as adult literature. The story follows Leena Shah and Eleanor Suzuki in bits and pieces from college to their early 30s. It was highly entertaining to see how these women would fall back into each other’s lives again and again, no matter what.
One aspect that I appreciated was the portrayal of Asian American families throughout the book. I was able to relate to the feelings of being Asian American regarding focusing on ourselves and not dedicating enough time to our families as we should. I understood the different ways of elder care and the respect that was shown – dropping everything to care for elders and the pains of not being present enough for our elders. The guilt and shame described for being part of one side was very relatable to me and I bet that many APALA members will also be able to relate to either aspect of elder care since we prioritize our parents and grandparents more than the average American. The need to suppress true feelings to not rock the boat on a special day, the holding back and anxiety of needing to share something that will not make our families happy yet continuing on. The fallout of those interactions and the various levels of acceptance or shunning of who we are. To me, these are all integral parts of Asian American culture and it is incredibly special to me that this is so relatable because our culture is underserved in the media.
The main audience for this book is queer millennial Asian Americans. However, if the reader is just queer, millennial, Asian or Asian American, they will be able to find an appreciation of the book through their own lens. This book offers relatability, understanding, appreciation and homages to each of these groups in its own way. The takeaways may be different and we can have our own understandings to reflect on, but this book gives us something that we rarely get which is representation. Being able to feel understood or “seen” by a book is a breath of fresh air. I treasure the fact that I can read a book from a budding queer Asian writer and cannot wait to see more of their work.
Review by Audri Pabustan, editing assistance by Noelle Cruz.
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