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Village in the Dark, by Iris Yamashita, continues the adventures of Detective Cara Kennedy as she attempts to piece together the true fate of her missing husband and son.

What I liked:

• Yamashita’s novels are so interesting – I didn’t feel a particular connection to any of the characters in Village in the Dark, which is usually what keeps me turning the pages, but somehow I basically read it in two sittings. I suspect the short chapters and very readable writing style have a lot to do with it. Maybe this is what comes of having a screenwriting career before a novelist career?
• Are there really so many Japanese people in Alaska? I find Mariko’s character so funny and spot-on, and reminiscent of the type of persona I would expect to find in a Japanese novel. I’d love to know where Yamashita got inspiration for her.
• I appreciate Yamashita drawing clear distinctions between Japanese and Ainu people, though I’m curious about how common Ainu people actually are in Alaska. I hadn’t previously considered interactions between Ainu people and indigenous people from other parts of the world, so it was interesting to read the relationships Yamashita constructed between Ayai, Mia, and the indigenous and non-indigenous residents of Unity.

What I learned:

• I recently read Moon of the Crusted Snow, by Waubgeshig Rice – an indigenous-centered novel by an indigenous writer, for those who are unaware – and feel that I observe a significant gap in representation between Rice’s depiction of indigenous characters and cultures and Yamashita’s depiction. However, being non-indigenous, I’m cognizant that this is merely an observation on my part with no actual lived experience to back it up. How would Rice and Yamashita, respectively, describe the key tenets of writing outside your experience?

Questions I had:

• How do indigenous readers from Alaska feel about Yamashita’s portrayal of indigenous characters and cultures? Do they feel Yamashita’s approach is respectful?
• Did Yamashita make any changes to her research process for the indigenous content in Village in the Dark compared with her process for City Under One Roof? Did her indigenous sensitivity readers, consultants, etc. recommend or observe any improvements to her approach with this second novel?
• How do Ainu readers feel about the portrayal of Ayai and Mia? Do they agree with Yamashita’s representation choices? What are the implications of nihonjin or nikkei writers depicting Ainu characters and culture?
• I had this question with Yamashita’s first novel, but how, indeed, does a nikkei writer working in Hollywood land on a remote and unique community in Alaska and a not-insignificant amount of indigenous representation as the premise for a novel? Does the indigenous representation in Yamashita’s novels actually benefit Alaska’s indigenous communities in any way? Perhaps that is one key factor in writing outside your experience – if it does not benefit the communities being depicted in a meaningful way, is it a clear sign not to do it, particularly if the communities in question are marginalized in one or more ways? Yamashita’s author’s note references the Alaska Native Women’s Resource Center, but I’m not sure if reading Yamashita’s books would necessarily motivate the majority of readers to donate to AKNWRC or to other indigenous-run organizations.

Follow-up:

• Are we done with Cara now? I liked the (more or less) happy ending for Cara, but I would also enjoy reading another novel set in this world.