The Woman in the White Kimono: (A BBC Radio 2 Book Club pick)

Product Information

The Woman in the White Kimono, is a work of fiction based in 2 decades, the present day and Japan 1957. However, it draws its inspiration from the authors fathers own experience having met and fallen in love with a Japanese girl while he was enlisted in the US navy and the many Japanese women, exiled in their own country or discriminated against in the US. That is for the small number that managed to overcome the strict immigration laws in the US. Book Review: Meet Your Matcha (Common Threads #7) by Nanxi Wen @nanxiwenauthor @smartypantsromance October 16, 2023 The writer carefully switches between the two timelines and I appreciated how she gradually establishes connections between Tori and Naoko. I could not have seen how the story would conclude and I enjoyed the eventual revelations. I fell in love with the whole cast and the love between Naoko and Hajime was boundless. It was easy to picture these characters and believe in the struggles that they faced. There’s a side by side story running parallel too which comes together in one huge emotional BANG I wouldn’t have guessed it if I tried in a month of Sunday’s. The Woman in the White Kimono is predominantly set in Japan during the late 1950s, as well as present day, and is told from two different perspectives; Tori, a young journalist who journeys to Japan after her father's death to unravel the secrets of his past and to find the family he may have left behind, and Naoko, a young Japanese girl whose forbidden love for an American soldier will change her life forever.

Disclaimer: I received a free advanced reader copy of this book from TLC Book Tours & Harper Collins in exchange for my honest opinion. This has no effect on my opinion, review or rating. Oh I loved this……… An elegant and beautifully written historical fiction story which was loosely inspired by the military experience of the author's father. Buy this book from hive.co.uk to support The Reading Agency and local bookshops at no additional cost to you. Find this popular literary device of writing from different view points, swapping narratives within the same story very annoying. Seems to be in vogue - I just want to get on with the story sometimes. Japan? How do you think the story would have changed if Tori had read the letter while Pops were alive?The fact The Eugenic Protection Law is mentioned in the ‘Author’s Note,’ but not explored in more detail, gives the writing less traction and makes light of the situation in Japan in the 1950s. This may have been deliberate on the part of the author and the publisher; the truth would have watered down the romance. The book fully covers the topic of abortion but skims over society’s opinion of “blood-mixing”. It was a hot topic in those days and the prohibition of American men marrying Japanese women as part of this Eugenic Law was a subject on everyone’s lips, including the press, teachers, and social activists. If it had been examined in more detail, it could have deepened Naoko’s character and the story would have been more authentic.

Each of the girls at the maternity home were brought there by tragedy, a tragedy that is only worsened at the home: How does this shared experience bind the girls together? Do you think they It is a tough subject to read about. In all honesty, it isn’t something I had ever heard about before. It is terribly sad and to know that, though these events took place half a century ago, the impacts are still being felt today. Families torn apart. The Time Before, The World Within, Out of Step, Counting the Days, Poppy's Seed, Three Extraordinary Years The Two Saras and I Know You, Don't I? I was genuinely emotionally moved by the story and found myself tearful reading it at times. Powerful writing. Ana Jones not only writes in a beautiful and graceful style, but she also shows passion for her work by the way she presents the research she had to do while writing this novel. While this book is not a mystery or suspense read I could not stop reading it, there was such a strong pull for this story that I read it in just few hours. I highly recommend this book to all the historical fiction fans.Japan, 1957. Seventeen-year-old Naoko Nakamura’s prearranged marriage secures her family’s status in their traditional Japanese community. However, Naoko has fallen for an American sailor and to marry him would bring great shame upon her entire family. When it’s learned Naoko carries the sailor’s child, she’s cast out in disgrace and forced to make unimaginable choices with consequences that will ripple across generations. To marry an American would be shameful for her and her family. Naoko becomes pregnant, and she is cut out of her family and left on her own to make decisions with grave outcomes impacting her for a lifetime. It is terribly touching. It is uplifting in places, unbearably sad in others. I went through the entire spectrum of emotions reading it, and I felt desperately for Naoko, as well as for Tori. As readers, we are always one step ahead of Tori, thanks to Naoko’s narration. This might sound like it would be boring to read her parts, but that’s not the case. Tori’s story is mostly investigative, as well as discovering her new feelings towards her father. This is a beautiful written book, in fact almost too beautifully written: in some places it felt like a fairy story. I found the first part a bit off-putting: there is an awful lot of sitting by a bedside watching a loved one suffering, which doesn’t move the story forward and is almost slushy in its portrayal of an end-of-life scenario. The prose is vivid and expressive. The characters are multi-layered, vulnerable, and resilient. And the plot is a profoundly moving tale about life, love, familial relationships, heartbreak, loss, guilt, grief, desperation, courage, hope, and regret.

The strongest part of the book is the writing. Ana Johns writes in such a tragically beautiful way that perfectly captures the mood of the story. Chase two hares and you will catch neither,” says Grandmother. This is but a single parable in her arsenal of many. She releases them like arrows, but instead of one, which breaks with ease, she slings ten to a bundle. In her spare time she enjoys reading, music, theatre, walking, Pilates, dancing and voluntary work.Discuss the role of culture and class in THE WOMAN IN THE WHITE KIMONO. In what ways are Naoko’s decisions driven by cultural norms and expectations about gender? How does this A huge part of The Woman in the White Kimono is that, at that period of time, Japanese women marrying American soldiers was not unheard of, but certainly wasn’t accepted. These women and their children were shunned from society, and many lived in Eta communities – entire villages of people that struggled and were ostracised for their choices. The children of these people suffered even more so. As becomes clear as the novel goes on, hundreds of these children were not accepted by their Japanese families. Thousands more died alone, and were buried in unmarked graves where they were not aided in crossing over to the other side. From the first moment, her family opposed to marrying their daughter to a gaijin when a prearranged marriage to her father’s business associate’s son is considered to be a better match. After the rumours of her becoming pregnant with Hijime’s child, Naokao’s mother gave her to choice of running away or get rid of the child and going through with the prearranged marriage. Naokao chose to follow her heart and chose the path less travelled. Timpul e o creatura incapatanata careia ii place sa te intarate. Cand esti fericit isi deschide aripile si zboara. Cand astepti. se taraste prin noroi gros, cu picioarele greoaie." Usually when in a time-split novel, I find myself enjoying one narration more than the other. This wasn’t the case with this book. I loved Tori’s investigative journalist mind, and her clear adoration for the father she is no longer certain she knew. I willed her on in her quest, and as a reader could feel the conflicts she felt as she dug further into Jimmy Kovac’s history. Meanwhile, Naoko’s narrative is fascinating. She is a naïve girl of seventeen, accidentally falling pregnant and then secretly marrying a foreigner – a taboo in 1950’s Japan. Consequently her life is made difficult, and she is found torn between her family values and love for her mother and brother, and the wonderful love she feels for Hajime, the American soldier whose baby she now carries. When the worst happens and her beloved mother dies, leaving Naoko suddenly the head woman of the household, her choice begin to unravel her life.

In the present time, Tori Kovac is cleaning out her father's home following his death, and she finds a mysterious letter that may mean that her father had a life before he married her mother - one that evidently involved his time in Japan decades earlier.Ana Johns has done an amazing job with this novel. The characters are so incredibly believable you will feel their every emotion, and you will be rooting for the love of two people to prevail and overcome the cultural traditions and taboos they face.