How to Be an American Housewife

How To Be An American Housewife is a 2010 novel by Margaret Dilloway. It is based on the experiences of Dilloway's mother, who was a Japanese war bride.

Synopsis
The book tells the story of Shoko Morgan, a mother of two and wife to American GI Charlie. Shoko decided to contact her brother Taro, whom she last saw when she married Charlie at the end of World War II. However, she is too ill to return her country. Shoko asked her daughter Sue and granddaughter to go to Japan to find her uncle to discover her mother's life secret.

Characters

 * Shoko Morgan - A Japanese Woman who married American GI, with whom she had 2 children
 * Suiko (Sue) Morgan - Shoko's and Charlie's daughter and sister to Mike and niece to Taro
 * Charlie Morgan - Shoko's husband and Mike's and Sue's father is an Irish-American GI who is kindhearted yet shy
 * Mike Morgan - Shoko's and Charlie's son and older brother of Sue
 * Taro - Shoko's younger brother and uncle to Sue and Mike, who hates Americans, retired from being a school principal
 * Mille Morgan - Charlie's mother, who become Shoko's mother in law and grandmother to Mike and Sue
 * Nanny - a babysitter whom Shoko disliked as a child
 * Craig - Sue's ex-husband and Helena's father, who married her at age of 20
 * Suki - Taro's and Shoko's sister.
 * Ronin - an Eta whom Shoko fell in love with, born to an English father and Japanese mother. He and Shoko were lovers. He was killed by Tetsuo
 * Tetsuo - Taro's childhood friend, who was engaged to Shoko until he cheated on her with her friend Yuki.
 * Toyoko - Japanese wife of black soldier
 * Jim - Toyoko's husband
 * Kyle Leonard - An American general who met Shoko
 * Lorraine- A neighbor of Charlie and Shoko
 * Dr Cunningham - Shoko's doctor
 * Helena - Sue's and Craig's 13-year-old daughter
 * Dr Su : Shoko's doctor is a Chinese-American
 * Toshiro : A Japanese traveler who met Sue and Helena
 * Yasuo Takana - Suki's son is a teacher at Ukei High School who met his cousin Sue
 * Hiroshi - Yasuo's lover
 * Sumiko - Taro's granddaughter, who met Sue and Helena
 * Taro-chan- Sumiko's four-year-old son, who shared his name with his great-grandfather

Awards
The book was a John Gardner Fiction Award Finalist in 2011.