Q&A with D.K. Furutani, Author of When Mikan Road Was Ours

When Mikan Road Was Ours follows Murano, a reclusive high school teacher grappling with grief, illness, and estrangement from his family. When he inherits his great-uncle’s unpublished memoir, he is transported to 1930s California, exposing him to incredible stories of family, resilience, and Japanese American identity.

Let’s get to know D.K. as he talks favorite novels, story inspiration behind When Mikan Road Was Ours, his TBR and more!

What are some of your favorite novels?

When I browse the bookstore aisles, I tend to gravitate toward quieter stories told in lyrical prose, so books like The Housekeeper and the Professor by Yoko Ogawa, The Buddha in the Attic by Julie Otsuka, Plainsong by Kent Haruf, and every novel by Marilynne Robinson are some of my all time favorites. But I also enjoy well-plotted mysteries with colorful characters, like Naomi Hirahara’s Mas Arai series. 

When did you know you wanted to become an author?

Since childhood, I’ve always enjoyed writing and thinking creatively, enjoying short story assignments in high school and college, but it wasn’t until my love of reading was reignited during the pandemic that I started reading books with a specific curiosity for the craft of writing. I got really inspired by some of the authors I mentioned above, and started playing around by writing scenes that mimicked their voices. Granted, this was during the pandemic when I had excess time on my hands, but I tend to get obsessive when I undertake projects so I lost myself in the writing process and fell in love with storytelling and developing characters. 

Can you talk about what inspired you to write When Mikan Road Was Ours?

As mentioned in the above, I had excess time on my hands during the pandemic to explore different pathways for writing, but this excess time had also forced me to ponder what was most important to me. I just could not stop thinking about the social injustice occurring in our country, along with the rise of Anti-Asian hate speak, which then stirred up questions about my family’s experiences as Japanese Americans during WWII. The more I researched and discovered about their forced displacement and incarceration, the more I needed an outlet for the feelings of anger, confusion, and helplessness I couldn’t escape while stuck inside and isolated from loved ones. So I created a character on which to imprint certain experiences, who happens to undergo a similar journey to what I experienced in learning about the past.  

What type of research informed this novel?

The first and still most important text that informed my novel is my own great-uncle’s memoir, which shed light on so many historical events I knew so little about. In addition to that, I relied heavily on the Japanese American Museum, and Densho.

How long did it take to complete the story? 

I actually wrote the first draft in six weeks. But it was a very rough, very skeletal draft, with not much fleshed out in the way of character and form. From there, I sought out workshops and relied on trusted readers to guide revisions over the next three years. Since then, it’s been about two years of working with my editors at Atria, so in total, it took just under six years to complete. 

What was your reaction when you found out you won the Books Like Us Contest?

Unrestrained shock! I think I stood up so quickly from my computer that one of my cats probably bolted out of the room. But it was a truly a dream come true, and I am so grateful to the amazing team at Atria for the opportunity to share this novel with readers!

What are you currently reading and what’s on your TBR (to be read) list?

I’m about a quarter of the way through reading MECCA by Susan Straight and I’m loving every word. It’s such a vivid and visceral portrait of Southern California. Once I’m finished with that, I’d like to spend the rest of the summer reading LONESOME DOVE.