This is two books under one cover.  The first two-thirds is a personal story; the last third is a political one.  Throughout, it is a story of women, struggling, surviving, and breaking glass ceilings.

 

The first woman in Hirono’s life was her grandmother, who left Japan for Hawaii in 1923 as picture bride to escape family pressure to marry a man she did not like.  The most important woman was Hirono’s own mother, who was born in Hawaii a year later.   “She had a heart of fire,” Hirono wrote.  She “was always looking out for the next opportunity.”  They returned to Japan in 1939.

 

There, Hirono’s mother made an unfortunate marriage, to a man who looked good but spent his time and their money drinking and gambling.  WWII was over when Hirono’s mother escaped the abusive marriage by fleeing with two of her children back to Hawaii — facilitated by the fact that she was born there.  Hirono’s grandparents and youngest brother joined them later.

 

Hirono’s mother was happy to be back where she had spent her first 15 years, so much so that she gave herself and her children American-sounding names.  She became Laura.  Keiko became Mazie.  Hirono wasn’t so happy, initially refusing to learn English.

 

Suffice it to say that all stayed in Hawaii and adapted to their multi-ethnic American environment.  Hirono tells many stories about herself and her family from these years; some poignant, some exciting.  

 

Hirono seems to have glided into politics.  Although public service was an early motivation, running for office wasn’t.  But she became a state legislator on her first try in 1980 and stayed until she became the Lt. Governor in 1995.  She lost her first race when she ran for Governor in 2002, against Republican Linda Lingle.  This was only the second time in US history that two women had run against each other for Governor representing both major parties.

 

“Unemployed” for four years, she won an open seat in the US House in 2006 and an open seat in the U.S. Senate in 2012 — this time beating Lingle by a landslide.

 

It is when she joins the Senate that the political story takes over.  In these final chapters the personal story moves to the background though it doesn’t entirely disappear.  It’s captured by a joke she told when campaigning for the Senate in 2012  that went viral when posted to social media a few months later.  “I bring quadruple diversity to the Senate. I'm a woman. I'll be the first Asian woman ever to be elected to the U.S. Senate. I'm an immigrant. I'm a Buddhist.”  A voice shouted from the audience, “Yes, but are you gay?”  “No,” I said, ‘Nobody's perfect."'

 

Her first four years in the Senate were relatively uneventful, as she dug down and learned the job.  She had a few clashes, including one with Barbara Mikulski (D MD), and worked with some Republicans.  When Trump became President, Hirono pulled out her sword.  His acts, appointments and words represented everything she disliked.  There’s a lot on the Kavanaugh hearings where, as a member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, she questioned Kavanaugh about his alleged sexual assaults. There’s also a lot on immigration (one of her pet issues) and the “Chinese virus.”  

 

Hirono’s political career coincided with the rise of political women from bit players to major leaguers.  Her stories illustrate the forward steps as well as the backward ones.  Lots of important women make an appearance in these pages. This book is a tribute to success, both hers and that of other women.  Above all, it’s a tribute to her mother.

 

This book is well worth reading but it needs an index. It  did take time looking through pages for something I knew I had read but couldn’t readily find. Then there are all the names in the personal story which memory doesn’t always recall.  How much easier it would be to look a name up in an index, then go to the actual page where it first appeared.  

 

© 2021 Jo Freeman for SeniorWomen.com