Winner of the Man Asian Literary Prize, an "elegant and haunting novel of war, art and memory" (The Independent) from the critically acclaimed author of The Gift of Rain. Malaya, 1951. Yun Ling Teoh, the scarred lone survivor of a brutal Japanese wartime camp, seeks solace among the jungle-fringed tea plantations of Cameron Highlands. There she discovers Yugiri, the only Japanese garden in Malaya, and its owner and creator, the enigmatic Aritomo, exiled former gardener of the emperor of Japan. Despite her hatred of the Japanese, Yun Ling seeks to engage Aritomo to create a garden in memory of her sister, who died in the camp. Aritomo refuses but agrees to accept Yun Ling as his apprentice "until the monsoon comes." Then she can design a garden for herself. As the months pass, Yun Ling finds herself intimately drawn to the gardener and his art, while all around them a communist guerilla war rages. But the Garden of Evening Mists remains a place of mystery. Who is Aritomo and how did he come to leave Japan? And is the real story of how Yun Ling managed to survive the war perhaps the darkest secret of all?
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Publisher:
New York : Weinstein Books, ©2012
Edition:
1st U.S. ed.
ISBN:
9781602861800
Branch Call Number:
F TAN
Characteristics:
335 p. ; 23 cm.
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Add a CommentAn amazing Read! Do you self a favor & leaning experience, check out this Book! Set on a tea farm, post Japanese invasion of China's edges. Albeit coud be any place, it's the people that count! My college aged niece gave me this gift! . FIVE *
Great read, beautifully written. Gives readers a sense of life during WWII and the "Emergency" in Malaysia.
This sublime and often melancholy story set in colonial Malaya and resumed in post-independence Malaysia has many themes that resonate with contemporary events and issues. As English might be the second language of the author, this results in unexpected word usages that add 'sparkle' and 'freshness' to the lyrical writing.
What a beautiful book; compelling, haunting, memorable, .
Loved this book, interesting story that I never knew about the POW's in Malaysia. If you are a lover of Japanese style gardens this is eye candy for the book lover!!
Lovely story though I found it a little slow in the beginning pages. Interesting historical details of WW2 Malaysia.
I enjoyed this book immensely. One of the best books of 2012. Please note that it is definitely a readers book.
This writer's second novel, short-listed for the Booker prize. Similar themes and settings to his first work, "The Gift of Rain". One of my favorites in 2013.
beautifully written and able to be raced through without losing too much detail
however i was confused by the timing (1940's, 1951, present day) and some peripheral characters seemed to appear suddenly
Yun Ling Teoh is a woman, quite literally, scarred by war, a WW II Japanese labor camp in Malaya, who years afterward is still seeking answers to where she was and coming to terms with her sister?s death in the camp.
Can a garden heal? Can the unique construct of a Japanese garden built by master gardener Aritomo once in the Emperor?s employ bring peace to all the souls touched by brutality? What lovely prose and beautiful images the author makes; all the time casting an air of mystery and intrigue around the characters that makes the book a page turner.