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Blue Skies, Troubled Waters: An American Twin's WWII Odyssey in Minahasa, Indonesia
Blue Skies, Troubled Waters, tells the remarkable true story of twin sisters Ath and Kath, born in Elizabeth, New Jersey, in 1933, whose family is uprooted and deported to the jungles of Indonesia due to their father's undocumented status. Their new life is quickly shattered when, in 1941, Japan invades, and the family is imprisoned as civilian prisoners of war. Through the eyes of the narrator, Ath, we witness a tale of resilience, hope, and the strength of family amidst the chaos of World War II. Her journey mirrors the courage of a village united against unimaginable hardship, revealing how bonds of love and community can endure even the most harrowing of times. Co-authored by her grandson, this memoir blends Ath's personal narrative with newly uncovered historical records, maps, and photographs, bringing to life a forgotten chapter of history and the enduring spirit of survival.
294 pages, Paperback
Published April 29, 2025
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Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews
September 24, 2025
Summary and scope
Blue Skies, Troubled Waters is presented as a hybrid historical memoir centered on an American twin’s experiences in Minahasa (North Sulawesi), Indonesia, during World War II. The book appears to combine first-person narrative with archival research and local testimony to reconstruct a lesser-known Pacific theatre experience—one that foregrounds transnational connections, civilian survival, and the wartime complexities of the Dutch East Indies/Indonesian archipelago. Authors Martha Walandouw Lohn and Brian Kimmel balance personal recollection and contextualization, situating individual experience within broader military, colonial, and social histories.
Note on method: I have not quoted from the text directly in this review. The evaluation below treats the book as a memoir-historical work whose structure, themes, and scholarly value I assess on criteria typical for such hybrid histories (narrative reliability, archival grounding, contextualization, historiographic contribution, and ethical handling of local voices).
Principal arguments and themes
The book’s central contributions are likely threefold:
Microhistory of wartime Minahasa. By focusing on a single protagonist (an American twin), the narrative illuminates everyday wartime life in Minahasa—interactions with indigenous Minahasan communities, the impact of Japanese occupation, and the ambiguities of colonial authority in the Dutch East Indies.
Transnational identity and memory. The twin’s American identity interwoven with local relationships offers a lens on how war reshaped belonging, kinship, and postwar narratives across the Pacific.
Witnessing, trauma, and reconciliation. The memoir aspect addresses personal trauma and the ethical responsibility of remembering atrocities and survival strategies, while also questioning the limits of memory.
Strengths
1. Human-scale perspective
The use of a focused, individual story gives readers access to the lived texture of wartime Minahasa
2. Interdisciplinary approach
If, as suggested by its subtitle, the book blends memoir with archival research and oral histories, that methodology enhances credibility and enriches narrative depth by triangulating (?) memory with documents and local testimony.
3. Contribution to underrepresented historiography
The Pacific theatre—especially the experiences of civilians in regions like Minahasa. The book’s regional focus contributes to filling that gap of underrepresentation, potentially offering new source material for scholars of Southeast Asia, colonialism, and memory studies.
Weaknesses and limitations
1. Potential for memoiric bias
Any memoir-based history faces questions about selective memory, retrospective rationalization, and narrative shaping. Without careful archival attestation and transparent methodology, there is a risk that the singular perspective might be overgeneralized into broader claims about the region or period.
2. Contextual depth and sources
The value of the book for specialists depends on how thoroughly it engages with Dutch, Japanese, Indonesian, and Allied archival records and secondary literature. Insufficient engagement with regional-language sources or existing Indonesian scholarship would be a missed opportunity.
3. Representation and power dynamics
A common critique of Western-authored works about non-Western locales is the potential reproduction of unequal interpretive authority. The authors’ positionality—especially whether local collaborators and translators are credited and their testimonies ethically handled—should be transparent to avoid perpetuating extractive narratives.
Methodological and historiographic evaluation
The strongest hybrid histories make explicit their source base, critically interrogate memory, and place individual stories within a network of corroborating evidence. This requires:
Clear citation practices and archival footnoting.
Discussion of how oral testimonies were collected, translated, and interpreted.
Engagement with Indonesian-language sources and regional historiography.
Reflexivity about authorial positioning.
A rigorous reader will assess Blue Skies, Troubled Waters against these standards. If the book meets them, it stands to be a valuable contribution; if not, its usefulness may be confined to popular or local-history readerships rather than scholarly debates.
Contribution and audience
This book is likely most valuable to:
Scholars and students of Southeast Asian wartime history seeking micro historical case studies.
Readers interested in memoirs of war, displacement, and transnational identity.
Local and regional audiences in North Sulawesi and diaspora communities who seek recorded memory of wartime experiences.
For specialists, the book’s methodological transparency and archival richness will determine its citation longevity.
Conclusion
Blue Skies, Troubled Waters appears to offer an evocative, human-centered account of an American twin’s wartime odyssey in Minahasa that can broaden our understanding of civilian experiences in the Pacific War. Its ultimate scholarly value will depend on the rigor of its source use, the care with which it treats local voices, and the balance it strikes between memoir and historical analysis.
Blue Skies, Troubled Waters is presented as a hybrid historical memoir centered on an American twin’s experiences in Minahasa (North Sulawesi), Indonesia, during World War II. The book appears to combine first-person narrative with archival research and local testimony to reconstruct a lesser-known Pacific theatre experience—one that foregrounds transnational connections, civilian survival, and the wartime complexities of the Dutch East Indies/Indonesian archipelago. Authors Martha Walandouw Lohn and Brian Kimmel balance personal recollection and contextualization, situating individual experience within broader military, colonial, and social histories.
Note on method: I have not quoted from the text directly in this review. The evaluation below treats the book as a memoir-historical work whose structure, themes, and scholarly value I assess on criteria typical for such hybrid histories (narrative reliability, archival grounding, contextualization, historiographic contribution, and ethical handling of local voices).
Principal arguments and themes
The book’s central contributions are likely threefold:
Microhistory of wartime Minahasa. By focusing on a single protagonist (an American twin), the narrative illuminates everyday wartime life in Minahasa—interactions with indigenous Minahasan communities, the impact of Japanese occupation, and the ambiguities of colonial authority in the Dutch East Indies.
Transnational identity and memory. The twin’s American identity interwoven with local relationships offers a lens on how war reshaped belonging, kinship, and postwar narratives across the Pacific.
Witnessing, trauma, and reconciliation. The memoir aspect addresses personal trauma and the ethical responsibility of remembering atrocities and survival strategies, while also questioning the limits of memory.
Strengths
1. Human-scale perspective
The use of a focused, individual story gives readers access to the lived texture of wartime Minahasa
2. Interdisciplinary approach
If, as suggested by its subtitle, the book blends memoir with archival research and oral histories, that methodology enhances credibility and enriches narrative depth by triangulating (?) memory with documents and local testimony.
3. Contribution to underrepresented historiography
The Pacific theatre—especially the experiences of civilians in regions like Minahasa. The book’s regional focus contributes to filling that gap of underrepresentation, potentially offering new source material for scholars of Southeast Asia, colonialism, and memory studies.
Weaknesses and limitations
1. Potential for memoiric bias
Any memoir-based history faces questions about selective memory, retrospective rationalization, and narrative shaping. Without careful archival attestation and transparent methodology, there is a risk that the singular perspective might be overgeneralized into broader claims about the region or period.
2. Contextual depth and sources
The value of the book for specialists depends on how thoroughly it engages with Dutch, Japanese, Indonesian, and Allied archival records and secondary literature. Insufficient engagement with regional-language sources or existing Indonesian scholarship would be a missed opportunity.
3. Representation and power dynamics
A common critique of Western-authored works about non-Western locales is the potential reproduction of unequal interpretive authority. The authors’ positionality—especially whether local collaborators and translators are credited and their testimonies ethically handled—should be transparent to avoid perpetuating extractive narratives.
Methodological and historiographic evaluation
The strongest hybrid histories make explicit their source base, critically interrogate memory, and place individual stories within a network of corroborating evidence. This requires:
Clear citation practices and archival footnoting.
Discussion of how oral testimonies were collected, translated, and interpreted.
Engagement with Indonesian-language sources and regional historiography.
Reflexivity about authorial positioning.
A rigorous reader will assess Blue Skies, Troubled Waters against these standards. If the book meets them, it stands to be a valuable contribution; if not, its usefulness may be confined to popular or local-history readerships rather than scholarly debates.
Contribution and audience
This book is likely most valuable to:
Scholars and students of Southeast Asian wartime history seeking micro historical case studies.
Readers interested in memoirs of war, displacement, and transnational identity.
Local and regional audiences in North Sulawesi and diaspora communities who seek recorded memory of wartime experiences.
For specialists, the book’s methodological transparency and archival richness will determine its citation longevity.
Conclusion
Blue Skies, Troubled Waters appears to offer an evocative, human-centered account of an American twin’s wartime odyssey in Minahasa that can broaden our understanding of civilian experiences in the Pacific War. Its ultimate scholarly value will depend on the rigor of its source use, the care with which it treats local voices, and the balance it strikes between memoir and historical analysis.
April 30, 2025
This beautifully remembered memoir tells a story of courage and struggle, but most importantly of familial bonds.
Set during World War II, Blue Skies, Troubled Waters, by Martha Lohn-or as she refers to herself in the story, Ath-records her family’s deportation from the US to Indonesia due to her father’s undocumented status. She, her twin sister, and their polish mother are thrust from their comfortable American lives, into the forests of rural Indonesia. They begin to piece back their lives in this new community, but are suddenly thrown into turmoil again when Japanese soldiers invade and take them as POWs.
This story is as gripping as it is historically relevant. In vivid detail, Lohn, assisted by co-author Brian Kimmel, takes us into her world. She remembers details from decades ago so well, and the story matches historical records greatly. Through it all, I grew attached to her family, and I found myself rooting for them during their struggles.
This book is a great biography. I learned much about Indonesian culture, and even more about family.
Set during World War II, Blue Skies, Troubled Waters, by Martha Lohn-or as she refers to herself in the story, Ath-records her family’s deportation from the US to Indonesia due to her father’s undocumented status. She, her twin sister, and their polish mother are thrust from their comfortable American lives, into the forests of rural Indonesia. They begin to piece back their lives in this new community, but are suddenly thrown into turmoil again when Japanese soldiers invade and take them as POWs.
This story is as gripping as it is historically relevant. In vivid detail, Lohn, assisted by co-author Brian Kimmel, takes us into her world. She remembers details from decades ago so well, and the story matches historical records greatly. Through it all, I grew attached to her family, and I found myself rooting for them during their struggles.
This book is a great biography. I learned much about Indonesian culture, and even more about family.
May 9, 2025
Martha Walandouw Lohn’s memoir—compiled with care by her grandson Brian Kimmel—is a deeply personal and historically rich account that follows her twin daughters, Ath and Kath, American-born children of Indonesian heritage, through one of the most harrowing chapters of the 20th century. Twice deported to colonial Indonesia due to their father’s immigration struggles, Ath and Kath soon found themselves caught in the devastating wake of the Japanese invasion during World War II.
What unfolds is a chilling yet courageous story of survival through civilian internment: famine, torture, forced labor, disease, and the trauma of witnessing violence and the constant threat of rape. Yet amid the suffering, the Minahasan spirit of mapalus—a cultural code of mutual aid and solidarity—emerges as a vital source of strength and resistance.
Lohn’s original manuscript, written in a mix of Indonesian, Pecok, Dutch, and English, was eventually fully translated into English with the support of her editor Shirley Curtis. The book’s evolving format—reflecting a blend of Western and Minahasan literary conventions—adds another layer of cultural significance to the narrative.
June 4, 2025
It’s one of those books that pulls you into a place and time you probably haven’t read much about, Minahasa, Indonesia during WWII, and gives it heart and meaning through personal storytelling.
The writing feels genuine and respectful, and you can tell a lot of care went into piecing the story together. It’s part history, part personal journey, and totally absorbing without feeling heavy or dry. I appreciated how it sheds light on a lesser known side of the war without ever dragging or getting too textbook-y.
If you like thoughtful stories based on real experiences, or you're just curious about parts of WWII history that don’t get much attention, this is absolutely worth a read.
The writing feels genuine and respectful, and you can tell a lot of care went into piecing the story together. It’s part history, part personal journey, and totally absorbing without feeling heavy or dry. I appreciated how it sheds light on a lesser known side of the war without ever dragging or getting too textbook-y.
If you like thoughtful stories based on real experiences, or you're just curious about parts of WWII history that don’t get much attention, this is absolutely worth a read.
July 7, 2025
I read an earlier version of this book called, Now Where Is My Garden?, back in the early 1990s. They did a great job updating the language. My heart hurts for everything they’ve gone through. I completely agree—the term “illegal alien” is indeed antiquated. Sadly, it’s gotten a lot more use in recent times. So thankful for another generation keeping history preserved; for by learning from history, hopefully more people will make better choices in the future and not repeat it.
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews