Publisher: Atria Books
Release Date: November 2015
Pages: 336
Format: Hardcover
Genre: Historical Fiction
About the Book:
From New York Times
and internationally bestselling author Isabel Allende, an exquisitely
crafted love story and multigenerational epic that sweeps from San
Francisco in the present-day to Poland and the United States during the
Second World War.
In 1939, as Poland falls under the shadow of
the Nazis, young Alma Belasco's parents send her away to live in safety
with an aunt and uncle in their opulent mansion in San Francisco. There,
as the rest of the world goes to war, she encounters Ichimei Fukuda,
the quiet and gentle son of the family's Japanese gardener. Unnoticed by
those around them, a tender love affair begins to blossom. Following
the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, the two are cruelly pulled apart as
Ichimei and his family, like thousands of other Japanese Americans are
declared enemies and forcibly relocated to internment camps run by the
United States government. Throughout their lifetimes, Alma and Ichimei
reunite again and again, but theirs is a love that they are forever
forced to hide from the world.
Decades later, Alma is nearing the
end of her long and eventful life. Irina Bazili, a care worker
struggling to come to terms with her own troubled past, meets the
elderly woman and her grandson, Seth, at San Francisco's charmingly
eccentric Lark House nursing home. As Irina and Seth forge a friendship,
they become intrigued by a series of mysterious gifts and letters sent
to Alma, eventually learning about Ichimei and this extraordinary secret
passion that has endured for nearly seventy years.
Sweeping through time and spanning generations and continents, The Japanese Lover
explores questions of identity, abandonment, redemption, and the
unknowable impact of fate on our lives. Written with the same attention
to historical detail and keen understanding of her characters that
Isabel Allende has been known for since her landmark first novel The House of the Spirits, The Japanese Lover is a profoundly moving tribute to the constancy of the human heart in a world of unceasing change.
Wanda's Thoughts:
The Japanese Lover is the story of Alma Belasco. In 1939 Alma’s parents
send her to San Francisco to live with wealthy relatives. It was there
that she met Ichimei Fukuda, the son of their Japanese gardener. Their
relationship is formed early on as children and continues through the
rest of their lives.
And the story unfolds over a period of many
years and Alma is living in Lark House, an elderly care facility. It is
there that she meets Irina Bazili. Irina assists the elderly residents
with their daily routines. Irina and Alma connect and secrets are slowly
revealed.
The premise of this book was a good one, but unfortunately it never came together.
I
found the book to be disappointing on multiple levels – the characters
were shallow and the dialogue was flat. I found myself caring very
little to what happened to both the story and the characters. The tempo
of the story line moved at a very slow pace with too many unnecessary
details. There were multiple subjects that went nowhere and the story
felt disjointed. There was just nothing that swept me away or evoked
many emotions.
On a positive note – there was historical
information woven into the storyline that I found most interesting about
the Japanese Internment during WWII.
My rating is 2.5 stars.
About the Author:Isabel Allende Llona is
a Chilean-American novelist. Allende, who writes in the "magic realism"
tradition, is considered one of the first successful women novelists in
Latin America. She has written novels based in part on her own
experiences, often focusing on the experiences of women, weaving myth
and realism together. She has lectured and done extensive book tours and
has taught literature at several US colleges. She currently resides in
California with her husband. Allende adopted U.S. citizenship in 2003.
