The Bamboo Bracelet: A True Story Paperback – April 28, 2020

This book was well written. I felt like I was there with them. I love true stories from WW2 and especially survivor stories. This was one of the best memorials to be written. Definitely would recommend this book. Definitely a keeper!!

This morning I finished The Bamboo Bracelet with heart a-thumping! It was a real triumph and a true story that held me in thrall. The author is very much to be congratulated for making the story riveting despite (because of?) the character flaws of the protagonist, whose neck I wanted to wring on more than one occasion. The British heroine, Ronny (interned young mother) was feisty, energetic, creative, resourceful, and a risk-taker, but her flaws (willfulness, impetuousness, self-absorption sometimes to the point of irresponsibility) were the heart of the drama. This story is set in the Philippines in World War II, where pregnant Ronny was captured (separated from her husband at first) and interned by the Japanese for three years. Any good tale of imprisonment is never simply about surviving captivity: it's about change over time. How does the character grow? It's totally fitting that the book's title, The Bamboo Bracelet, refers to the means for her growth: the beautifully carved bracelet given her by her husband for their fourth anniversary (and made in captivity) becomes inspiration for ultimately moving beyond herself. Told by her daughter (who was conceived in the camp), and clearly with love and devotion, the bamboo bracelet did its work. And Merilyn Brason sure did hers. Fine, detailed sketches of life in Japanese camps of Baguio, Camp Holmes, and Santo Tomas. It joins recently published Leonore's Suite as a compelling new portrayal of internee life.

I was born in Santo Tomas, the concentration camp that the book is about. I was almost the exact age as the child in the book. My mother didn’t talk about the camp much so I was fascinated to learn what those years were like for her.Everything I knew before from my father’s stories was verified in this book.It is a keeper.

An important story That needs to be told.

The Bamboo BraceletOne of the Best war time story experiences of a wife stranded from her husband in the Philippines in WW2. Thoroughly recommended