The Hiroshima Maidens: A Story of Courage, Compassion, and Survival

In 240 pages, Rodney Barker takes us from the atomic bomb blast at Hiroshima, through the story of 25 surviving girls who were selected to travel to the United States for reconstructive surgery. The only technical quibble we have with Barker's writing is a very occasional tendency to pack too many clauses in a sentence. That aside, the book seems to be a well-balanced relating of the experiences of the so-called "Hiroshima Maidens," seen from several different points of view. Readers of this book will learn of the struggles the promoters of the trip had, both with the media (trying to prevent it from becoming a P. R. circus) and with the U. S. State Department (avoiding political pitfalls). This is not a political treatise on the wisdom or folly of nuclear warfare, but a straightforward account of the near-miracles that can happen when individuals decide to care about, and for, other individuals. You may read the survivors' accounts of the Hiroshima blast with dry eyes, but if you don't get choked up while reading of the girls' first, hesistant steps to fit in with their American host families, call your local coroner. Bottom Line: WELL WORTH READING (and short).