About the Novel

Destination: Neys is a historical fiction. It captures the heart-wrenching and desperate plight of a Japanese Canadian family incarcerated in a German prisoner of war camp in Northern Ontario, after the Second World War has ended. There were several camps established to intern the Japanese Canadians during and after World War II, yet, to date there is no public knowledge of this particular camp.

Sadly, most of the events in the novel are true. The scenes were woven together from interviews with survivors who graciously shared their memories, recollections, and nightmares about this devastating time in Canada's history.

Told through the eyes of eleven-year-old Tamiko Arima, we experience the harsh reality of racism and hatred in Canada during the 1940s. The novel opens with Tamiko and her family on a train without food or water and no idea where they are going. This coming-of-age story reveals how Tamiko, although already incarcerated for three years of her life, comes to finally understand the reality of her family's situation. Through unlikely allies and the resilience of a Japanese Canadian mindset, the family holds up against sickness, harsh living conditions, starvation, humiliation, racism, and hatred.