About BC Books Online
BC Books Online was created for anyone interested in BC-published books, and with librarians especially in mind. We'd like to make it easy for library staff to learn about books from BC publishers - both new releases and backlist titles - so you can inform your patrons and keep your collections up to date.
Our site features print books and ebooks - both new releases and backlist titles - all of which are available to order through regular trade channels. Browse our subject categories to find books of interest or create and export lists by category to cross-reference with your library's current collection.
A quick tip: When reviewing the "Browse by Category" listings, please note that these are based on standardized BISAC Subject Codes supplied by the books' publishers. You will find additional selections, grouped by theme or region, in our "BC Reading Lists."
Description
In 1940s Vancouver the Japanese have just bombed Pearl Harbour and racial tension is building. The RCMP are rounding up “suspicious” young men, fishing boats and property are being seized, and internment camps are only months away.
Daniel Sugiura, a young reporter for the New Canadian, the only Japanese-Canadian newspaper allowed to keep publishing during the war, reveals the stories of members of Vancouver’s Japanese community in the midst of war: Morii Etsuji, the Black Dragon boss, who controls the kind of pleasure men pay for — gambling, drink and prostitution; Watanabe Etsuo, Secretary of the Steveston Fishermen’s Association who makes a deal with the devil to save his loved ones; and Etsu Kaga, a Ganbariya of the Yamato Damashii Group and a Japanese nationalist whose obsession with the Emperor becomes destructive to himself and all involved with him.
The Three Pleasures is an intimate and passionate novel that takes a deep look at a terrifying and painful period in Canada’s history.
Bespeak Audio Editions brings Canadian voices to the world with audiobook editions of some of the country’s greatest works of literature, performed by Canadian actors.
Contributor Notes
Terry Watada is the author of two previous novels, The Three Pleasures and The Blood of Foxes, a collection of short fiction, Daruma Days, four books of poetry, two children’s books, the nonfiction title Bukkyo Tozen: A History of Jodo Shinshu Buddhism in Canada 1905 – 1995, and two manga style comic books. Terry is also a musician and recording artist. Mr. Watada lives in Toronto.
Editorial Review
“The Three Pleasures sticks close to this historical record, giving a strong sense especially of community life and divisions within Vancouver’s Japantown in the early 1940s.” — Globe & Mail
“A tale of duplicity, betrayal and loss, this thought-provoking political novel sheds new light on the internment of nearly 24,000 Japanese Canadians during the Second World War. Shrouded in moral ambiguity, the book elucidates little-known details about a few resistance groups and powerful individuals within the Japanese communities of Vancouver and Steveston, B.C. It delineates the nature and extent of their roles before and during the internment.” — Winnipeg Free Press
“Terry Watada’s literary tour de force, The Three Pleasures, lifts the Japanese Canadian internment experience beyond passive victimization by giving life to a host of historical figures – heroes, villians and tragic characters – in a fascinating yet little-known resistance movement within the camps. An absolute page-turner and worthy read.” — Jim Wong-Chu, Asian Canadian Writers Workshop Founder
