This beautiful, easy to read novel made me choke up at the end. I highly recommend it. Here is my Book Review The Samurai’s Garden: A Novel by Gail Tsukiyama.

1930’s Japan & China

Tsukiyama, who herself is part Chinese and part Japanese, creates a beautiful narrative of 1930’s pre-war China and Japan. We are introduced to a 20-year old young Chinese man, who comes home from university to recover from tuberculosis. His family sends him to their summer home in Japan, to get him out of the city and to help him recover near the sea.

Stephen misses his family, especially his younger sister, but over the course of year he becomes close to Matsu, the caretaker of the families home. Despite the Chinese boy and the Japanese man’s different upbringings, economic status and cultural differences, the two develop a bond. And Stephen learns about Matsu’s secrets, his loyalty and love.

Matsu will teach Stephen about devotion, and survival in a world that prizes honor more than life itself. As we learn more about past tragedies in Matsu’s life, Stephen both matures and returns to health.

But when Japan invades China, and World War is mounting, the two friends will say good bye with hopeful hearts to see one another again.

Book Review The Samurai’s Garden: A Novel by Gail Tsukiyama

A short and easy to read novel, with an underlying message of tolerance and love, that goes beyond any Chinese or Japanese story I have read before. *****Five stars for The Samurai’s Garden by Gail Tsukiyama.

See last week’s book review Still Life by Sarah Winman

We love it when you pin and share our book reviews. Thank you.