Forgiveness cover art

Forgiveness

A Gift from My Grandparents

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Forgiveness

Written by: Mark Sakamoto
Narrated by: Geoff Sugiyama
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About this listen

When the Second World War broke out, Ralph MacLean chose to escape his troubled life on the Magdalen Islands in eastern Canada and volunteer to serve his country overseas. Meanwhile, in Vancouver, Mitsue Sakamoto saw her family and her stable community torn apart after the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor.

Like many young Canadian soldiers, Ralph was captured by the Japanese army. He would spend the war in prison camps, enduring pestilence, beatings and starvation as well as a journey by hell ship to Japan to perform slave labor, while around him his friends and countrymen perished. Back in Canada, Mitsue and her family were expelled from their home by the government and forced to spend years eking out an existence in rural Alberta, working other people's land for a dollar a day.

By the end of the war, Ralph emerged broken but a survivor. Mitsue, worn down by years of backbreaking labour, had to start all over again in Medicine Hat, Alberta. A generation later, at a high school dance, Ralph's daughter and Mitsue's son fell in love.

Although the war toyed with Ralph's and Mitsue's lives and threatened to erase their humanity, these two brave individuals somehow surmounted enormous transgressions and learned to forgive. Without this forgiveness, their grandson Mark Sakamoto would never have come to be.

©2014 Mark Sakamoto (P)2018 Audible, Inc.
Biographies & Memoirs World War Heartfelt
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What listeners say about Forgiveness

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    5 out of 5 stars

A very deserving winner!

I loved this book. So proud of CBC for selecting this for the Canada Reads award

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2 people found this helpful

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Excellent!

Haunting and sad but an excellent example of racism even in Canada pre Canada’s involvement in WWII and of the terrible ordeal suffered by the young men who went to war to protect our nation.

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1 person found this helpful

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Food for thought

A true story of strength, courage, endurance and a will to move forward. I hold these families and others high in my regard. thank you for sharing.

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A GIFT FOR EVERYONE

Canada Reads 2018 pick. From the moment I heard Jeannie Becker talk about this book I knew I would love it. I was not wrong. Mark Sakamoto has touched on so much in the human experience and this book will have a lasting impression on me forever. It evokes of history lessons not often told in the classrooms and anyone from western Canada will find themselves lost in the memories. Great material and one of my favourite books of all time.

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Loved the vivid discriptions and raw emotion.

Such a moving and inspiring story through the beautiful way the author describes things. The narrator did a fabulous job and drew me into the story from beginning to the end.

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Fantastic story of love

This story captures the struggle of a family coming together and forgiving all its shortcoming to become something so much more. It has been an honour to hear. Thank you

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Wow

I can see why this won Canada Reads. What I thought was going to be a story about two sets of grandparents experiencing WWII from two very different circumstances wound up being so much more. I think this should be read very broadly, by Canadians mostly, but really anyone who wants to hear a touching, powerful story about three generations of families who have helped to build a great nation into what it is now (worts and all). Highly recommended!

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A Canadian Story

I really enjoyed this wartime story and the ability of Mark's grandparents to forgive the atrocities they experienced at the hands of the Canadian and Japanese governments. A must read in this era of reconciliation.

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Moving and enlightening

Well narrated and engaging. This non-fiction tale covers the entire scope of human emotion- amazing.

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A story of human strength and forgiveness

I could not put it down. I listened on and on. A story of real people, real situations, who were controlled by the decisions of others, put in unimaginable circumstances they lived through with strength and forgiveness. A five star book for sure!

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