Burnt Shadows

About two months later, Elizabeth looks out over the gardens of the Burtons’ summer home in Mussoorie, India, where she, James, and Hiroko are currently staying. Elizabeth is embarrassed about having assumed the worst of Sajjad when she discovered him with Hiroko. Although Hiroko cleared up the misunderstanding, James fired Sajjad, with generous severance pay and the promise of a good recommendation. Elizabeth joins Hiroko sitting in a tree. Hiroko wonders about the Japanese names for the local plant life, which resembles that of Nagasaki. Hiroko has also developed a friendship with Kamran Ali, in the cottage next door.

Elizabeth tells Hiroko that Sajjad’s firing was in her best interest, as marrying Sajjad is impossible because of his family traditions. Hiroko counters that Elizabeth’s own unsuccessful marriage to James has made her bitter. Elizabeth doesn’t deny it and admits to being jealous that Sajjad never liked her. The two women reconcile, though Hiroko notes that she doesn’t belong in the Burtons’ world either. Hiroko tells Elizabeth about seeing her wounded father after the bombing in Nagasaki and says that she is dumbfounded that the Americans dropped a second nuclear bomb after seeing the effects of the first. Hiroko tells Elizabeth that she hates feeling like a foreigner, but she also doesn’t want to return to Nagasaki and be just another hibakusha, reduced to her experience with the bomb.